^ ,  *  *.,.,«,  ^^^^^^^^^^ 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


^i^Mn/e^^y   ^cl^.<J^  JL^^^-^^  ^^^ 


I 


■If- 


BS  540  .F57  1834  >v^ /¥s^, 

Fishback,  James.  \ 

Essays  and  dialogues,  on  th^ 
powers  and  susceptibilitiej 


^" 


ESSAYS  AND  DIALOGUES, 

ON 

THE  POWERS 
AND    SUSCEPTIBILITIES    OF    THE    HUMAN    MIND 

FOR 


RELIGION; 


SHOWING     THE     NECESSITY     OF     THE     WORD     OP     GOD, 

OR    OF 

SUPERNATURAL    REVELATION, 

TO     THE     EXISTENCE     OF     IT     IN     THE     PRESENT 

FALLEN  STATE  OF  MAN: 
AND  ON    MANY    OTHER   OF   THE   MOST    IMPORTANT  SUBJECTS 

OP 

CHRISTIANITY. 

-/- 

BY    JAMES   FISHBACK, 

AUTHOR    OF    TUB    PHILOSOPHY    OF    TilK    HUMAX   mXA 
IN    REGARD    TO    RELIGIO.V. 


'*Bowarc,  ]«'st  any  man  spoil  yon,  tlironwli  pliilosopliy  and  vain  de- 
ceit, after  ilie  Irailitions  of  im-n,  allcr  llie  niJiiueiils  ol'  Uie  world,  anil 
not  after  Christ."— Paul. 


LEXINGTON: 

J.  CLARKE  &  CO.,  UPPER  STREET. 
1834. 


a. 


CONTENTS. 

ESSAY  1. 

The  knowledge  of  God  essential  to  religion — That  know- 
ledge is  not  natural  to  tlie  fallen  slate  of  man,  but  su- 
pernatural—  God  is  an  object  of  faith,  and  so  is  the 
fact  of  Creation  —  The  povyers  of  the  mind  examined 
and  limited,  in  proof  of  the  above  propositions.         -         9 
ESSAY  II. 
The  image  and  likeness  of  God  in  which  man  was  made, 
—  his  co-eval  endowments  —  his  probation   and  fall, 
and  his  loss  of  the  image  of  God  without  losing  his 
mental  faculties  and  susceptibilities.         -         -        -         21 
DIALOGUE  L 
Natural  Religion  investigated  and  proved  not  to  exist — 
no  innate  idea  of  God  as  was  maintained  by  Calvin.        39 
ESSAY  III. 
Origin  and  use  of  Language  in  Religion.  -         -         66 

ESSAY  IV. 
Origin  and  use  of  Language  agreeably  to  Parkhurstand 
others  —  The  traditions  by  wJiich  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  of  Religion,  have  been  handed  down  from 
one|generation  to  another — The  chronological  connec- 
tion between  Adam  and  Isaac.  -  -  -  -  79 
ESSAY  V. 

•The  New  Covenant. 90 

ESSAY  VI. 
Atonement.        --------     104 

ESSAY  VII. 

Trinity.         - 119 

ESSAY  VIII. 
Divinity  and  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ — Dr.  A.CIark*s 
view  of  the  Atonement  and  Sonsliip  of  Jesus  Christ.       139 
ESSAY  IX. 

Grace  and  Faith. 148 

ESSAY  X. 
Justification  or  the  remission  of  sin — The  justification 
of  a  sinner  and   ungodly    man   is   by   faith   without 


ir 


CONTENTS. 


works:  —  the  justifiGalion  of  a  rig-hteous  or  godly  matl, 

is  by  works  and  not  by  faith  only.         .         -         -         155 

Luther's  view  of  the  subject.         -----     159 

Paul  and  James  reconciled.         -----      105 

Baptism  has  no  more  to  do  with  the  actual  justification 
of  a  sinner  and  ungodly  man,  now,  than  it  had  with 
making  Abraham  the  Father  of  the  faithful.       -      -       171 

Romaa  Catholic  decrees.         .         -         .         .         -         177 
ESSAY  XI. 

The  New  Birth  —  The  meaning  of  the  phrases  "Born 
again  —  Born   of  water  and  of  the   Spirit  —  Born  of 

God." 183 

ESSAY  XII. 

The  Religion-giving  operation  of  God  —  God  in  giving 
religion,  creates  no  new  faculties  or  powers  in  the 
mind  —  His  religion-giving  operation  is  by  his  word 
intelligibly  presented  to  the  mind,  and  by  it  perceiv- 
ed, understood  and  believed.  .  -  -  -  209 
ESSAY.  XIII. 

The  Holy  Spirit — The  out-pouring  of  the  Spirit — the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  —  gifts  of  the  Spirit  —  the 
Apostolic  office.        -        -        -        -        -        -      -     222 

ESSAY   XIV. 

Baptism. 246 

The  ordinance  of  baptism  was  designed  to  imite  all  true 
believers  in  one  visible  fellowship  in  Christ.  -         248 

Criticisms  of  Professor  Stuart  and  others,  on  eis.       -      255 

It  is  by  immersion,  and  emidemalically  represents  the 
death,  burial  and  resurrection  effected  in  tiie  soul  of 
the  believer,  through  faith  in  the  cross  of  Christ,  be- 
fore he  is  baptized.         .__---       263 

Baptism  t>as  nothing  to  do  in  procuring  the  actual  re- 
mission of  sin.         -------        271 

ESSAY  XV. 

4%ristian  Experience.         -         -         -         -         -       -       275 

ESSAY   XV  I. 

Prayer.         -  -        -        -  .        -        ^3 


THE0L06ICx.L, 

"This  voltimc  is  puhlishea  ^S'iff  la' Vcnse'of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  subjects  investigated  in  it  to  the  spiritual  and 
moral  improvement  and  happiness  of  mankind.  The  subject 
matter  of  it,  in  a  great  measure,  lias  been  nnder  the  habitual 
consideration  of  llie  author  since  the  year  1802,  and  was 
first  prompted  by  a  great  religions  exciletncnt  that  existed 
at  that  time  in  the  western  country;  out  of  which  three  nevr 
religions  denominations  were  fjimdcd,  one  of  which  were 
-the  SJiakers. 

In  the  year  181^5  he  piiblishod  a  volume  entitled  **  The 
Philosophy  of  tlie  human  mind  in  regard  (o  religion,"  which 
was  produced  by  the  same  cause,  and  embraced  in  some  de- 
gree a  few  of  the  sul  jects  of  this  volume,  though  in  a  less 
perspicuous  manner. 

It  is  believed  that  an  erroneous  piiilosophy  of  the  human 
mind,  and  unscriptnral  views  of  the  operations  of  the  Spirit 
ofGoi!,and  of  (he  origin,  nature  and  nseof  the  word  of  God, 
in  tlio  communication  of  Spiritual  knowledge,  according  to 
which  God  gives  religion,  exist,  and  have  existed  more  or 
less  since  early  after  the  Apostulic  age,  and  are  the  causes  of 
the  slow  pmgress,  errors,  and  iitspcrfections  of  the  Christian 
Religion,    and  of  I  he  Christian  character  in  the  world. 

If  these  errors  exist,  they  must  be  sought  out  and  correct- 
ed by  a  patient  and  candid  inA'esiigalion  of  the  various  sub- 
jects in  wliich  ihey  are  ftnind,  with  an  humble,  trembling  re- 
gard fur  tiie  woitl  of  God.  Nothing  can  obviate  the  neces- 
eity  of  such  an  investigation;  nor  should  any  danger  of  being 
opposed  or  condotnnetl  prove  nt  it.  Nor  should  any  measure 
or  ticgrec  of  a!t;ichnief.t  to  or  cor.fitlci.ce  in  existing  views 
and  systems,  prevent  the  friends  and    lovers  of  truth  from 


2  PREFACE. 

carefully  reading  it.  This  volume  is  employed,  in  part,  in  the 
investigation  of  these  things. 

Why  ib  it  that  the  world  is  not  now  converted  to  the  Chris- 
tian Religion)  Why  is  it  tliat  but  linle  n  ore  o(  the  surface  of 
this  globe  is  covered  with  Christianiiy,  with  tliC  exception  of 
America,  than  there  was  when  tlie  last  of  the  Apostles  died? 
W^hy  is  it  that  Clirislians  are  all  cut  up  and  divided  into  sects, 
contrary  to  the  ardent  intercessory  prayer  of  Jesus  Ch'*ist, 
jnst  befoi'e  he  entered  upon  his  sufferings,  that  all  who  be- 
Uevd  in  him  through  the  word  of  the  Aposiles  might  he  one, 
as  he  is  in  the  t^'atlierand  the  Father  in  hiuj,  that  the  vvorld 
might  believe  that  the  Father  had  sent  him'J  John  xvii;  20, 
2h2'S. 

Why  is  it  that  the  word  of  GJod  is  by  many  of  its  most 
learned  advocates,  believed  to  have  been  invented  and  stipu- 
lated by  men,  as  the  things  of  God,  that  it  reveals,  were  dis- 
covered by  them,  and  wliich  only  becomes  the  woi\\  of  God 
by  his  Using  ii  in  making  his  communications  to  our  world, 
and  Avhich  reveals  noliiir;g  that  was  not  discovered  by  the  hu- 
man mind  without  revelation?  Can  any  person  receive  the 
word  of  God  *'not  as  the  word  of  man,  hut  as  it  is  in  truth 
and  indeed  the  word  of  God  which  elTectuaily  works  in  all 
who  do  thus  believe  it,"  who  entertain  the  above  sentiments] 
I  iijink  not. 

And  why  is  it  that  others  believe  that  the  word  of  God  is 
a  sealed  book  and  a  dead  letter,  and  that  it  imparls  no  spiritu- 
al idea  or  inforination  to  the  human  mind,  previous  to  the 
immediate  pliysical  operation  of  the  Spirit,  by  which  the 
€Oul  or  spirit  of  man  is  regenerated;  and  tliat  the  word  of 
God's ^race  in  the  gospel  has  nothing  to  do  in  the  regenera- 
tion of  rnan;  and  who  pay  no  attention  to  the  religious  edu- 
cation of  their  cljildren  on  that  account!  'I'hese  arc  ques- 
tions of  the  most  serious  import,  and  demand  the  most  patient 
and  dispassionate  attention.  Either  the  Christian  Religion 
is  incapable  of  converting  the  world  by  its  own  intrin- 
«ic  and  divine  sense  and  meaning  as  re\ea.leil  and  ordain- 
-cd  of  God,  and  <jf  sustaining  itself  in  the  world  under  th« 
omnipatcnt  reign  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  God  is  unwilling  thatit 


PREFACi:.  3 

Bhall,  and  withholds  th«  regular  and  necessary  infliience« 
from  the  means  that  he  has  ordained  to  effect  il,  or  he  does 
rot  impart  to  the  ininds  of  mankind  the  powers  and  suscep- 
tibilities which  render  them  capaple  of  being-  converted. 
These  things  must  be  true,  or  the  means  Avhich  he  has  ap- 
pointed and  the  conslitulioti  of  the  minds  of  iiiCii  are  misap- 
prehended and  misdirected,  and  thereby  fail  to  acc(;mplish 
the  end.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  imwiilingricss  of  God  or  in 
the  impotency  of  Jesus  Clirist  to  convert  the  world  by  the 
gospel,  (iod  has  as  manifesdy  a  system  and  plan  according 
to  which  sinners  are  to  be  brought  to  the  knovvledge  of  tho 
truth  and  the  world  is  to  be  converted,  as  he  has  a  system  and 
order  in  anj  thing  else  agreeably  to  which  he  accomplishes 
his  ends. 

That  the  word  of  God  may  be  perverted  or  corrupted  and 
rendered  inefficient,  all  must  acknowledge  who  arc  acquain- 
ted with  the  religious  history  of  the  world.  Every  age  af- 
fords proof  of  it;  and  also  that  man  is  capable  by  his  intcl- 
Jeclual  and  moral  constitution,  of  refusing  to  attend  to  the 
things  of  God  as  he  has  revealed  them,  and  of  aijusing  his 
own  faculties  and  powers  by  desecrating  them  and  rejecting^ 
the  coimcil  of  God,  and  whicli  (Tod  has  always  punisiied.  TLp 
history  of  religion  before  and  at  the  fall  of  man,  and  since 
the  fall,  comprehending  the  ante-diluvian  and  post-diluvian 
patriarchal  states,  and  the  Mosaical  and  Christian  dispen^ 
sations  prove  these  things.  It  proves  moreover  that  the  cor- 
ruptions of  the  word  of  God,  which  have  been  effected  by 
altering  or  perverting  it  through  ignorance  or  nicked  desiga 
to  promote  selfish  or  carnal  and  superstitious  and  idolatrous 
purposrs,  uniforndy  corrupt  the  minds  and  mcjrals  of  the 
mass  of  mankind  on  whotn  they  operate;  and  that  their  pu- 
rity is  always  in  a  due  proportion  to  the  purity  of  the  word 
of  God  which  operates  upon  tliem,  and  to  the  extent  of  ita 
operation.  The  conclusions  of  the  mind  depend  altogether^ 
not  on  the  evidence  which  exists,  but  on  that  portion  of  it 
which  is  attended  to.  It  is  not  for  mankind  to  create  the 
light  of  the  Gospel,  or  to  give  themselves  spiritual  poivera 
and  susceptibilities  of  ir.ind,  wl.ith  rei.dcr  them  capable  of 
religion,  but  it  is  for  them  to  open  and  prcsoKt  their  eyes. 


1  PREPACK. 

thronj^b  which  their  hearts  must  be  affected,  to  all  the  mani- 
festations and  evidence  of  tlie  Gospel  of  God's  grace,  which 
is  spirit  and  life.     If  God  has  comtnunicated  light  and  grace 
fronn  the  invisible  world  to  qualify  men  for  knowing  and  en- 
joying liim,  they  shoiihl  direct  the   eyes  of  their  understand- 
ings and  their  hearts   towards   thein  aful   cherish   their  influ- 
ence.    The  Gospel  of  God's  grace   was   intended   to   purify 
and  sanctify  mankind,  and    it  does  so  when  it  operates  upon 
Ihem  in  its  own   appropriate,  divine  sense  and  meaning,  un- 
derstood ana  believed.     Tlie  whole  affair  of  salvation  from 
the  begifuiing  to  the  end,   is  of  the  sovereign  grace  of  God. 
Man  has  no  power  to  save  himself;  and  the  only  queslion  re- 
lates to  the  suitableness  of  the  Gospel  of  God's  grace  by  his 
appointment  to  alTect  it.     To  assert  that  the  Gospel  is  essen- 
tially unstiited  and  insudicicnt,  under  the  mediation  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  whom  is  the  fulness  of  the  God-head  bodily,  in  the 
administration  of  the  covenant  of  the  Spirit,  to  convert  the 
world  of  mankind  and  to  unite  and  make  it  happy,  would  be 
to  cliarge  the  divine  Saviour  with  a  want  of  wisdom,  power 
and  love.     And    to  deny  that  God  is  willing  to  convert  the 
world  by  the  Gospel  and  to  give  it  to  his  Son  for  his  inheri- 
tance, would  be  to  Coi.lradict  his  own  explicit  declarations, 
and  to  impute  unfaithfulness  to  him.     And    to  deny  that  the 
human  mifid,  notwithstanding  its  corruption  and  depravity, 
has  spirtual  powers  and  susceptibilities  which  render  it  capa- 
ble, under  tiie  iuHuenco  of  tbc  Gospel  of  God's  grace,  of  be- 
ing spiritually   illuminated   and   converted    to  God  through 
Jesus  Christ,  would    be  to  deny   to  man,   though   guilty  and 
mined,  moral  existence,  and  to  deny  that  God  gives  faith  by 
his  word  and  purifies  the  hearts  of  sinners  by  faith,  and  that 
'  the  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God   unto  salvation  to  every  one 
that  belicvelh.     And  it  would  be  to  contradict  all  those  ex- 
pressions in  the  word  of  God  in  the  OM  and  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, in  which   he  charged   sin  against  those  who  refi:sca 
to  attend    to,  and    to    believe  the  divine   testimony  that  he 
^ave  of  divine  things.     Are  not  the  moral  powers  and  suscep- 
tibilities which  arc  exercised  and  manifested    by  idolaters  in 
pagan  worship,  the  same  which  render  Ihcm  capable  of  th» 


PREFACE.  5 

enlightening  and  sanctifying  influences  of  the  gospel,  and  of 
being  converted  to  God  by  tljc  Gospel.  Tliese  powers  and 
iusceplibilities  are  the  objects  of  a  inissionary's  attention  a» 
they  were  of  Paurs  when  he  preached  to  the  licathen.  And 
the  whole  business  of  converting  the  world  lies  in  the  narrow 
compass  of  enliglitening  and  purifying  the  soiils  of  mankind 
by  the  operation  of  gospel  trutli  upon  these  powers  and  sus- 
ceptibilities and  training  tliem  by  tlie  grace  of  God  to  spir- 
itual purity.  The  only  objection  to  this  arises  from  an  errone- 
ous philosopliy  and  from  unscriptural  views  of  the  operations 
of  God's  Spirit. 

Protestant  Christians  do  not  expect  any  new  revelations 
of  the  Spirit,  nor  the  creation  of  new  faculties  in  the  hu- 
man mind,  nor  the  repetition  of  miracles,  in  order  Ihat  men 
«hall  believe  in  .Tesus  Clirist,  or  that  Christiatis  shall  rectify 
any  thing  that  is  erroneous  or  wrong  in  their  views  of  reli- 
gion. They  all  agree  that  their  faith  is  produced  by  the 
word  of  God,  and  is  to  be  resolved  into  its  sense  and  irieaning. 
In  all  ages  when  God  gave  a  revelation  of  hiinself  and  will, 
he  required  of  mnnkind  to  receive  it  and  to  act  according  to 
it.  And  he  adniiited  no  excuse  fur  the  violation  or  rejection 
of  it.  He  punished  them  for  it.  Irj  the  Gospel,  which  is  the 
last  revelation  ever  !o  be  made  until  the  end  of  the  world, 
he  requires  his  people  to  correct  thefr  own  errors  in  christian 
doctrine,  spirit  and  conduct,  and  lenders  to  tlicrri  all  the  aid 
thatis  necessary  to  do  it  through  the  use  of  their  faculties  by 
the  investigation  of  the  Irifih  and  by  prayer.  And  he  re- 
quires of  sinners  also  to  believe  the  Gospel.  He  gives  to 
them  all  the  power  and  susceptibilities  that  are  necessary. 
He  will  give  to  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  any  new  reve- 
lations of  the  Spirit  because  they  are  unnecessary,  to  enable 
them  to  do  these  things. 

Where  error  exists  in  rfgan!  to  the  word  of  God,  that  er- 
ror must  be  corrected  before  the  word  can  have  free  course 
and  be  glorified.  Until  corrected,  its  conseqiienccs  will  con- 
tinue and  nuist  be  endured  by  all  upon  vvhom  it  operates. 
And  no  amount  of  talents,  labour,"  zeal,  expense  or  prayer, 
that  may  be  employed,  and  no  measure  of  success  that  may 


O  PREFACE. 

attend  them,  will  compfensate  for,  or  can  remedy  the  evil 
conseq^iences  of  error — *' wliatsoever  a  man  sows  that  shall 
he  reap."  Were  the  whole  world  to  be  converted  by  Chris- 
tianity corrupted,  God  would  require  it  to  be  converted  over 
again  and  to  be  purified  by  the  pure  Gospel.  There  is  now 
bnt  little  proportion  between  the  efforts  that  are  made  for  the 
propagation  and  establishment  of  the  Christian  religion, 
even  in  Christendom,  and  their  success.  Every  thing  indi- 
cates that  there  is  something  wrong  among  us  all.  God  is 
surely  as  willing  now  to  convert  the  world  as  lie  ever  has  been, 
or  will  be,  and  is  much  more  willing  than  anyof  his  people, 
notwithstanding  many  of  them  seem  to  think  otherwise.  "  He 
is  of  one  mind,  who  can  turn  him"]  Job  xxiii,  13.  There 
is  a  difference  between  his  views  and  plan,  and  the  views  and 
plan,  to  a  considerable  degree,  which  many  good  men  have 
•  formed.  His  plan  is  according  to  things  as  /ic  sees  them. 
He  speaks  now  to  his  people  as  he  did  to  ancient  Israel — *'  O 
that  my  people  had  hearkened  unto  me  and  Israel  had  walk- 
ed in  my  ways:  I  should  soon  have  subdiied  their  enemies, 
and  turned  my  liand  against  their  adversaries.  The  haters 
of  tlie  Lord  sliould  have  submitted  themselves  unto  mie,  but 
their  time  should  have  endured  forever.  "  Psalm  Ixxxi, 
12-15. 

The  blood  of  .lesus  Christ  cleanses  from  all  sin.  The  atone- 
raent  is  tlio  tnedium  tlirough  which  God  the  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Spirit,  has  revealed  his  liglit  and  salvation  to  our  lost 
world,  ancllhrougli  which  all  his  blessings  come.  VVithout  it 
and  its  consequences  we  have  no  reli<^i»>n.  It  is  an  axiom 
in  rnorah  as  well  as  in  the  religion  of  the  New  Testan)ent, 
that  the  l)!ood  of  Chfist  cleanses  from  all  sin.  The  history 
and  prost:nt. state  of  the  world  prove  it,  as  does  the  state  of 
every  christian  sect;  they  nrc  all  [)iirc  as  this  doctrine  is  held 
in  righteousness.  The  God  of  grace  is  only  known  through 
theatonefnerit,  and  ho  is  revealed  by  the  'I'riniiy.  There  is 
in  consequence  of  the  fall,  no  naiurnl  religion,  or  knowledge 
of  God  independent  of  his  own  revelation.  The  wliole  sci- 
ence of  theology  consistsitj  the  knowledge  of  the  sense  and 
i:neanit}g  of  tlx  word  of  God;  and  practical  religion  consists 


PREFA.CE.  7 

in  cherishing  its  spirit,  and  in  practising  its  duties.  The 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel  are  tlie  foundation  and  frame-work 
of  Christianity,  and  practical  piety  is  its  covering  and  orna- 
ment. Both  are  cecessary  to  tlie  stability  and  beauty  of  the 
edifice. 

Tlioss  who  feel  no  interest  in  doctrinal  subjects,  overlook 
thjB  abasing  truths  which  Paul  calls  "  the  offence  of  the  cross." 
The  duty  of  faith  and  repentance,  and  their  privilege  and 
happiness  too,  have  their  foundation  in  the  doctrine  of  hu- 
man depravity,  and  of  the  atonement;  and  tlie  atonement  is 
the  foundation  of  saving  faith. 

God  has  given  to  man  no  natural  cr  moral  ability  to  believe 
in,  and  love  him  without  Jesus  Christ;  nor  lias  ho  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  Gospel.  His  religion  giving  operation  is  by  the 
Gospel  itself  understood  and  believed.  By  this  a  natural 
man  is  made  a  spiritual  man,  and  sinners  are  born  to  God  and 
made  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ.  This 
is  provided  Cor  and  is  conferred  upon  them  through  the  rich 
provisions  of  the  covenant  of  the  Spirit,  and  is  received  by 
faith  in  .lesus  Christ,  who  is  "  made  of  God  tmio  us  wisdom, 
righteousness,  sanctificalion  and  redemption."  Wc  should 
therefore  only  glory  in  the  Lord. 

The  reason  why  men  remain  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins 
in  a  christian  land,  is  because  christians  live  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  and  therefore  do  not  quicken  and  convert  them  by  tho 
Gospel  of  God's  grace  which  is  spirit  and  life. 

Before  the  world  can  be  converted  the  sentiment  must  be- 
come universal  among  all  Bible  Christians,  tiiat  the  word  of 
the  Gospel  in  its  true  sense  and  mealing  is  the  religion  J'or  this 
whole  w.-irld,  and  is  the  ordained  means  of  God  to  enlight- 
en and  convert  mankind;  and  that  it  is  the  privilege  and 
happiness  of  all  to  be  converted,  while  it  is  the  duty  of  chris- 
tians to  convert  them  by  imparling  the  truth  to  them,  and  by 
the  example  of  a  pious,  holy  life.  I'hc  understanding,  tho 
judgment,  and  the  affections  must  all  be  enliglilened,  con- 
vinced and  engaged  by  the  truth  of  the  Gospel.  This  would 
lead  to  the  use  of  the  word  of  God,  and  part  iciilarly  the  Gos- 
pel in  every  grade  of  education,  and  to  improvement  aoddutf 


8  PREFACE. 

from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  All  the  languages  that  are 
learnt  should  be  learnt  to  a  considerable  extent,  by  reading: 
the  Scriptures  translated  into  thenn.  By  these  means  all 
christians  will  become  united  in  one  hearty  fellowship,  and 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  be  glorified  in  all  things.  Peri- 
odical religious  excitennenls  will  give  way  io  perennial  ones, 
which  will  be  distinguished  by  vigorous,  healthy,  spiritual 
action  and  enjoyment,  perpetually  sustained  by  the  grace 
and  truth  of  God. 

The  design  of  the  investigations  in  this  book,  is  to  promote 
these  ends.  Their  direct  tendency  is  to  augment  the  impor- 
tance of  the  Bible  and  of  the  Bible  Society  cause  in  the  pub- 
lic mind,  and  to  create  and  increase  a  desire  for  reading  and 
understanding  the  Scriptures.  "^I'he  sentitnent  must  become 
more  universal  than  it  is  now,  or  has  been  for  a'  long  time^ 
that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God,  and  teaches  all  that 
can  be  known  of  spiritual  things,  and  was  written  to  be  read 
and  understood  by  nil  men.  And  that  it  is  the  meatjs  through 
which  God  communicates  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  makes  man- 
kind happy, and  saves  their  souls. 

Until  these  be  done  the  people  will  not  read  or  desire  t& 
read  the  Scriptures  from  proper  views,  and  the  labor  and 
expense  of  the  friends  of  the  Bible  Society  cannot  find  an 
equivalent  in  the  good  that  they  do,  in  supplying  every  fam- 
ily with  a  bible.  Were  the  friends  of  the  bible  to  employ 
one  half  of  their  efforts  and  labors  in  proving-  to  the  people 
that  the  scriptures  Were  written  to  be  read  and  understood 
by  them,  they  would  ^etl  one  hundred  bibles  to  be  actually 
read,  where  they  give, one  now,  whether  it  be  road  or  noti 


THE     K  n'o^S l:1]^G  E     OF     GOD» 


The  knowledge  of  God  essential  to  religion  —  That  knowledge  is  not 
natural  to  man  in  his  fallen  state,  but  supernatural  —  God  is  an  object  of 
faith  as  is  the  fact  of  creation  —  They  are  made  known  by  revelation 
—  The  powers  and  operations  of  the  mind,  examined  and  limited  in 
proof  of  the  foregoing  propositions. 

The  existence  of  God  is  the  foundation  of  all  religion. 
This  truth  will  be  evident  if  we  remember  that  the  word 
religion  always  denotes  either  a  system  of  truth  of  which 
God  is  the  great  subject,  or  a  system  of  affections  and 
conduct  of  which  he  is  the  supreme  object. 

Without  the  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  God  in  some 
degree,  no  person  can  be  said  to  possess  religion  either  in 
thought  or  affection.  Knowledge  consists  in  the  percep- 
tion of  that  which  exists,  or  of  truth  and  fact,  or  the  per* 
<3eption  and  agreement,  or  disagreement,  or  repugnancy 
of  our  ideas.  Our  ideas  are  the  signs  of  things,  and  are 
the  elements  of  our  knowledge,  as  words  are  the  signs  of 
our  ideas.  We  cannot  have  any  knowledge  of  that  which 
does  not  exist,  nor  have  we  any  knowledge  of  that  whose 
existence  is  not  perceived. 

Religious  knowledge  consists  in  the  perception  of  the 
existence  of  God,  of  his  operations  and  character,  and  of 
the  relations  which  we  sustain  to  him,,  and  the  duties  h« 
requires  of  us. 
2 


1M)  KNOWLEDGE   OF   GOD. 

God  is  not  an  object  of  sense,  but  of  faith.  No  man  has' 
seen  him  at  any  time,  the  only  begotten  Son  who  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  or  revealed  him. 

When  I  say  that  God  is  not  an  object  of  sense,  but  of 
faith,  I  mean  that  his  existence  cannot  be  perceived  or  in- 
ferred from  nature  or  from  mind,  independent  of  revela- 
tion made  in  words  or  verbal  language.  Objects  of  faith 
in  this  sense  are  those  which  are  made  known  by  super- 
natural revelation,  as  distinguished  from  those  which  are 
made  known  by  nature  or  natural  phenomena  or  appear- 
ances. 

God  exists  distinct  from,  and  independent  of  the  objects 
of  sense  and  of  their  appearances,  which  they  manifest  by 
the  operation  of  their  laws  or  powers  and  substances. 
God  is  therefore,  not  naturally  perceived — that  is,  nature 
does  not  make  any  original  suggestion  of  his  existence  to 
the  mind  by  any  of  her  operations.  It  is  the  duty  of  a 
thoroughly  instructed  natural  Philosopher  to  explain  all 
natural  phenomena  or  natural  appearances  upon  natural 
principles,  and  in  all  investigations  of  nature,  having  ar- 
rived at  first  principles,  he  is  bound  to  stop  there  and  to 
consider  himself  as  having  arrived  at  the  utmost  limits  of 
natural  science.  These  limits  have  no  naturally  perceived 
connection  with  or  dependence  upon  God,  and  of  course 
his  existence  cannot  be  inferred  from  them. 

The  fact  of  creation  is  an  object  of  faith,  as  is  the  ex- 
istence o^GfA —  they  are  both  made  known  by  revelation. 
Sense  informs  us  that  the  worlds  are,  and  that  all  the  va- 
rious objects,  substances,  laws  or  powers,  and  properties 
of  nature,  exist,  whether  animate  or  inanimate,  physical 
or  metaphysical,  and  moral ;  but  faith,  or  the  revelations 
of  God  by  his  word,  teach  us  that  they  were  made;  and  by 
revelation  we  know  that  spiritual  beings  exist,  and  that  all 
of  them  except  God  were  made. 


KNOWLEDGE    OP   GOD.  14 

it  is  the  language  of  revelation  alone  that  there  wae 
a  beginning  of  the  pensible  universe,  and  that  in  the  be- 
ginning God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth  out  of  no- 
thing,  or  that  he  created  the  elements  out  of  which  he 
made  them. 

As  the  mind,  in  viewing  the  phenomena  or  appearances 
of  nature,  cannot  perceive  any  thing  but  the  powers  or 
laws  and  substances  which  are  employed  in  producing 
them,  so  m  its  own  states  and  operations,  it  is  not  con- 
scious of  the  existence,  presence  or  operation  of  any 
being  or  thing  extraneous  to  itself  or  to  its  own  powers 
and  feelings,  and  the  objects  of  its  perceptions  and  feel- 
ings or  the  organs  through  which  it  is  impressed,  and  the 
sensible  circumstances  in  which  it  is  placed.  Neither  in 
the  former  or  latter  case  does  it  perceive,  or  is  it  conscious 
of  the  existence  or  agency  of  God,  because  he  exists  dis- 
tinct from,  and  independent  of  nature  and  of  her  substan- 
ces and  laws,  and  of  the  mind  and  its  powers,  suscepti- 
bilities and  consciousness,  and  has  no  sensibly  perceived 
connection  with  or  dependence  upon  either.  If  therefore, 
God  exists  and  operates  in  either  or  in  both  of  these  cases, 
the  knowledge  of  it  must  be  obtained,  not  from  nature,  but 
from  external  supernatural  revelation,  as  the  objects  are 
objects  of  faith  and  not  of  natural  sight  or  sense  or  deduc- 
tion from  nature,  or  of  natural  consciousness.  From  these 
premises  I  assert,  that  to  man's  fallen  state  there  is  no  ori- 
ginal natural  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  course  that  there  is 
no  Natural  Religion  distinguished  from  revealed  religion. 

The  existence  and  operations  of  God  being  distinct  from 
the  existence  and  operations  of  nature,  the  existence  and 
operations  of  God  are  objects  of  faith  and  are  only  known 
through  an  original  supernatural  revelation  —  supernatu* 
ral  I  mean,  to  man's  fallen,  natural  state.  This  revelation 
made  at  different  times  and  in  various  manners,  from  the 


12  KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD. 

fall  of  man,  has  been  handed  down  to  succeeding  ages  hy 
oral  traditions  and  rites  of  worship,  and  by  written  words. 
It  began  at  the  fall  and  was  gradually  enlarged  by  addition- 
Hi  communications  from  God  to  the  Patriarchs  and  Proph- 
ets, and  particularly  to  these,  and  was  perfected  by  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  Gospel.     Religion  has  existed  in  the  world 
since  man  was  made,  but  I  repeat  that  it  is  not  natural  to 
his  fallen  state:  —  to  his  primitive,  pure  estate,  the  one 
in  which  he  was  made,  religion  was  natural  —  it  formed  a 
part  of  the  state  in  which  he  was  made.     To  know  and 
love  God,  and  to  enjoy  communion  with  him  formed  a  part 
of  the  image  and  likeness  of  God  in  which  he  was  created. 
By  the  fall,  man  lost  them.     These  endowments,  which 
were  natural  to  man's  estate  of  innocence  and  purity,  are, 
by  reason  of  the  loss  he  sustained  by   sin,   supernatural 
and  miraculous  to  his  estate  of  guilt,  as  is   the  knowledge 
of  them.     Man,   by  violating  the  covenant  and  law  of  in- 
nocence in  Paradise,  changed  or  altered  his  state,  and  lost 
all  that  constituted  the  image  and  likeness  of  God.     God 
withdrew  from  him  the  light  of  his  countenance,   and  all 
the  co-eval  endowments,  which  he  bestowed  upon  him  at 
his  creation,  and  which  constituted  his  innate,  spiritual  and 
natural  knowledge,  and  his  righteousness,  true  holiness 
and  happiness  ceased.     From  that  period,  God's  govern- 
ment in  relation  to  man  was  changed  or  reorganized,   and 
was  made  to  assume  a  mediatorial  character,  and  had  re- 
ference to  the  incarnation  and  personal  manifestation  of 
God  the  word, his  atonement  and  the  new  covenant  which 
was  to  be  ratified  by  his  blood,  which  was  appointed  to  be 
shed  for  the  remission  of  sins.     The  propitiatory  death  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  the  great  event  in  the  divine  purpose  and 
grace  which  were  given  to  us   in  Christ  before  the  world 
began,  in  reference  to  which  God  made  all  his  communi- 
cations in  promises  and  blessings  to  our  guilty  world  aft^cv 


KNOWLEDGE   OF   GOD.  18 

the  fall,  and  through    which,  by   faith,    he    freely   and 
graciously  justified  sinners,  and  held   communion   with 
them  from  the  fall  of  Adam  to  the  advent  of  Messiah: 
Rom.  iii,  24,  26;  2  Tim.  i,  9;  Heb.  ix,  15.     When  the 
Scriptures  were  written  the  knowledge  of  God  existed  in 
the  world,  but   they  never  hint  that  that  knowlege  existed 
in  the  v/orld  independent  of  antecedent  revelations,  but 
abound  with  testimony  to  the  contrary,  and  prove  conclu- 
sively that  in  the  wisdom  of  God  the  world  by  wisdom  knew 
not  God .     In  every  period  of  the  world,  since  the  fall  .of 
man,  if  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  divine  things  which 
had  been  previously  obtained  from  God,  had  been  entirely 
lost,  or  taken  away,  and  new  revelation  had  been  withheld, 
the  human  mind  would  have  been  totally  destitute  of  any 
idea  of  God,  or  of  spiritual  existence,  or  of  the  beginning 
or  creation  of  the  world.     Hence  it  is  true  that  since  man 
fell,  exclusive  of  what  he  remembered  of  God  and  of  what 
he  knew  of  spiritual  things  before  and  at  the  fall,  all  that 
he  has  known  or  does  know  of  God  has  been  communica- 
ted to  him  by  external  revelation,  in  words,  which  were  for 
the  most  part  associated  with  miraculous  works  when  made, 
as  they  are  in  the  record,  to  confirm  and  illustrate  their 
divine  truth. 

This  has  been  the  source  and  character  of  all  true  reli- 
gious knowledge  that  our  world  has  possessed  since  the 
fall  of  man,  and  idolatry  originated  in  its  corruption  —  so 
that  religion  has  not  only  been  confirmed  by  miracles,  but 
it  has  always  been  miraculous  and  supernatural  to  the 
fallen  state  of  man.  It  was  made  known  and  developed,  as 
J  have  already  observed,  in  ancient  times,  and  at  different 
periods  by  God  speaking  to  the  prophets,  and  by  various 
typical  religious  institutions  which  he  ordained :  but  it  was 
perfected  by  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Gospel.  The  Bible  re- 
cord gives  a  short  account  of  the  pre-existing  revelations. 
2* 


,M  KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD. 

and  a  history  of  God's  dealings  and  conduct  towards  our 
world  before  the  time  of  Moses  and  since;  but  there  is  no 
case  in  which  God  required  mankind  to  know  or  to  believe 
in,  or  to  worship  him  without  his  own  revelations,  and  al- 
ways charges  guilt  and  condemnation  upon  them  for  cor- 
iiipting,  or  changing,  forgetting,  or  disbelieving  and  reject- 
ing his  word.  Nor  did  God  ever  require  of  men  under 
any  dispensation,  to  cultivate  human  learning  or  the  sci- 
ence of  nature  to  learn  his  existence,  or  to  worship  him. 
And  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  Christ  and  his  Apostles, 
among  all  their  doctrines  and  injunctions,  never  once  men- 
tioned human  learning,  consisting  in  the  science  and  phi- 
losophy of  nature,  as  the  means  of  acquiring  the  original 
knowledge  of  God  and  of  his  worship.  These  things  had 
led  off  from  the  knowledge  of  God  as  he  had  revealed  him- 
self, and  were  the  cause  of  corruption  and  idolatry  in  eve- 
ry age:  read  Rom.  i,  and  Deut.  iv.  In  these  passages, 
Paul  and  Moses  concur  in  proof  of  what  I  say  —  Paul  tells 
us  that  the  Gentiles  became  idolaters  by  changmg  the  glo- 
ry of  God  which  God  had  showed  unto  them,  into  images 
and  idols.  This  they  did  because  they  did  not  like  to  re- 
tain the  knowledge  of  him:  —  and  Moses  guards  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  against  the  same  sin  to  which  they  were  per- 
petually inclined,  and  into  which  they  several  times  fell, 
with  the  voice  of  their  prophets  perpetually  sounding  in 
their  ears,  and  with  the  stupendous  miracles,  which  God 
wrought  by  the  hands  of  Moses  and  others,  glaring  in  their 
eyes  from  every  page  of  their  history.  And  none,  af^er 
losing  the  knowledge  of  God  by  corrupting  his  word,  or 
rejecting  it,  ever  regained  it  but  by  new  revelation.  The 
people  always  erred,  not  knowing  the  scriptures  nor  the 
power  of  God  therein  revealed . 

Language  or  words,  in  spiritual  knowledge,  originated 
'in  the  Logos  or  word,  and  is  as  necessary  to  our  know- 


KNOWLEDGE    OF   GOD.  15 

ledge,  faith  and  affections  in  religion,  as  light  is  necessary 
to  our  perception  of  visible  objects,  and  to  the  siaf^e  of 
mind  produced  by  them.  God  who  formed  the  eye  gives 
to  us  vision  by  natural  lignt,  and  God  who  formed  the 
mind  gives  to  us  spiritual  perception  and  religious  know- 
ledge and  affection  by  his  word  —  and  as  certainly  and  de- 
monstrably as  he  has  limited  our  perception  of  visible  ob- 
jects to  the  use  and  influence  of  natural  light  upon  the  eye, 
has  he  limited  the  perception  and  knowledge  of  himself 
and  of  other  spiritual  objects  to  the  use  and  influence  of  his 
word,  given  to  us  by  supernatural  revelations.  After  the 
mind  has  obtained  the  idea  and  knowledge  of  God  as  the 
creator  of  the  Universe,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that 
the  world  was  made  by  him,  to  it,  through  faiths  "the  hea- 
vens declare  his  glory,  and  the  firmament  sheweth  for^h  hie 
handy  work."  This,  I  say,  is  the  language  of  faith,  and  is 
not  found  in  the  vocabulary  of  nature  strictly  speaking,  or 
of  natural  science.  David  derived  the  views  expressed 
in  •he  19th  Psalm  from  revelation. 

Feeling  the  importance  of  a  thorough  discussion  of  this 
subject  to  a  just  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  design  of  he 
word  of  God  as  distinguished  from  the  word  of  man,  and 
of  its  actual  necessity  and  use  to  the  existence  of  religion 
in  the  mind  and  heart  of  man,  1  will  give  to  the  powers  and 
operations  of  the  human  mind,  a  more  minute  and  particu- 
lar attention  as  to  the  ways  and  means  by  which  it  ac- 
quires knowledge.  By  this  it  will  appear,  that  since  his 
immediate  miraculous  revelations  ceased,  God  has  limi- 
fed  himself  to  his  own  icord  in  communicating  the  knoA'- 
ledge  of  himself  to  the  human  mind;  and  of  course  that 
the  religion  giving  operation  of  his  spirit  is  by  his  vord^ 
which,  when  received  as  the  word  of  God,  works  effectual^ 
ly  in  them  that  believe  it. 

In  accordance  with  this  view,  I  observe  that   all  thfe 


16  KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD. 

knowledge  we  can  h  ive  of  exernnl  ihings  naturally,    we 
derive  from  nature  by  its  operations  upon  the  mind  through 
our  five  senses,  the  sense  of  seeing,  of  hearing,  of  feeling, 
of  taslin;j  and  of  smeilin;^\    Objects  acting  upon  these  pro- 
duce impressions  and  sensations.     The  utmost  perfection 
of  our  senses  can  show  us  only  what  is  in  reference  to  the 
things  which  impress  them    at  rhe  moment  of  tlie  percep- 
tion; not  what  has  been  or  what  will  be.     There   is  no- 
thing in   any    quality  of  bodies  perceived  by   us,   which, 
without  experience,  could  enable  us  to  predict  the  changes 
that  are  to  occur  in  them,  or  instruct  us  in  what  had  hap- 
pened.    Without  experience,  then,  we  could  never  from 
ndUire  alone  tell  that  the  worlds  were  created  or  contrived, 
or  that  ihey  ever  will  be  destroyed.     But   experience  has 
taught  us  neither  of  these  things,  nor  that  any  thing  ever 
was  made  or  contrived  out  of  nothing  —  all  that  experience 
and  philosophy  can  do,  is  to  expbiin  the  phenomena  or  ap- 
pearances of  things  that  are,  and  to  tell  and  explain  the 
changes  to  which  things  are  liable  by  the  operation  of  the 
laws  and  principles  of  nature;  but  it  is  not  within  the  pro- 
vince of  experience  and  philosophy  to  know  or  to  inquire 
into  the  origin  of  any   thing  from  nothing  —  nor  is  there 
any  thing  in  nature  to  suggest  the  thought  or  the  inquiry. 
There  is  a  want  of  facts  and  analogies  in  the  case. 

What  mind  is,  independent  of  its  temporary  variety  of 
feeling  and  states,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  discern.  Of 
tlie  essence  of  mind,  or  of  its  duration,  we  know  nothing 
from  nature.  In  our  own  sensations  uniformly  ascribed 
to  particular  organs  of  sense,  we  find  the  elements  of  all 
our  knowledge,  the  materials  on  which  the  mind  is  ever 
operating,  and  without  which  it  seems,  as  is  observed  by 
Stewart,  to  be  impossible  to  conceive  that  it  ever  could 
have  operated  at  all,  or  have  been  conscious  of  its  own  ex- 
istence. 


KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  17 

The  intellectual  operations  of  our  minds  are  perception, 
memory,  imagination  and  judgment.  The  moral  opera- 
tions and  powers,  which  depend  upon  the  intellectual  ope- 
rations for  their  exercises,  are  the  affections  —  to  these 
may  be  added  consciousness,  which  is  the  feeling  the  mind 
has  of  its  own  present  state  however  produced. 

In  the  exercises  of  our  minds,  intellectually  and  morally, 
we  are  conscious  to  ourselves  that  we  perceive,  feel, 
think,  remember,  reason,  and  believe — that  we  love  or 
hate,  are  happy  or  miserable;  but  we  cannot  perceive  any 
power  or  influence  by  which  we  do  these  things,  or  by 
which  these  states  of  mind  are  produced,  independent  of 
ourselves,  and  of  the  objects  and  their  qualities  which  we 
perceive,  and  which  excite  them,  and  of  the  sensible  cir- 
cumstances in  which  we  are  placed.  If  there  be  any 
power  or  influence  exterior  to  our  bodies  and  minds,  or 
separate  from  them  and  the  things  and  circumstances 
which  I  have  stated,  by  which  we  are  excited  or  actuated, 
or  are  capacitated  to  act  —  if  God  exists  and  has  any 
agency  in  these  things,  we  must,  in  order  to  know  it,  be 
informed  of  it  by  external  revelation.  The  fact  of  the  ex- 
istence of  God  and  of  his  agency  are  objects  of  faith  and 
not  of  sight,  nor  of  sense,  nor  of  natural  consciousness. 

Without  faith  or  revelation  in  spiritual  and  religious 
matters,  we  can  have  no  religious  ideas  or  feeling,  as  with- 
out the  perception  of  visible  objects  we  can  have  no  feel- 
ing produced  by  them  as  visible  objects.  The  spirit  of 
God,  in  whom  we  live,  are  moved  and  have  our  being,  and 
who  sustains  all  our  powers  and  susceptibilities,  we  are 
not  naturally  sensible  or  conscious  of  the  existence,  pre- 
sence and  operations  of,  in  the  feelings,  exercises  and 
consciousness  of  our  own  minds,  more  than  we  are  of  his 
existence,  presefice  and  operation  in  external  natural  op- 
erations and  appearances.     If  we  apprehend  or  believe  i^ 


18  KNOWLEDGE    OF   GOD. 

his  existence  and  operation  in  either  case,  it  is  the  efteot 
of  external  revelation  made  to  us  by  words,  and  confirmed 
originally  by  miraculous  works  —  it  is  the  effect  of  faith. 

Nothing  affects  the  feeling  of  our  hearts  that  is  not  per- 
ceived by  our  minds.  Things  operate  upon  the  mind  as  it 
perceives  them,  and  not  as  they  are  in  their  own  natures. 

We  can  originate  no  new  idea.  We  can  perceive  that 
which  impresses  our  sense,  and  we  can  remember  what 
we  have  perceived,  and  we  can  imagine  many  things,  but 
our  imaginations  are  limited  by,  and  are  dependent  upon, 
the  materials  furnished  the  mind  by  previous  perceptions, 
ideas  and  sensations,  and  by  its  own  operations  and  states, 
for  its  fabrications.  There  is  nothing  found  in  the  com- 
plex fabric  wrought  by  the  imagination  or  fancy  more  than 
the  skill  and  talents  of  assorting,  combining  and  arranging 
the  materials,  that  is  not  found  in  the  raw  materials  them- 
selves. This  is  well  expressed  by  Mr.  Hume,  and  which,  by 
just  conclusions  from  it,  is  fatal  to  his  natural  religion.  He 
observes,  "although  nothing  is  so  unbounded  in  its  opera- 
tions as  the  powers  of  the  mind  and  the  imagination  of  man — 
to  form  monsters  and  join  incongruous  shapes  and  appear- 
ances cost  the  imagination  no  more  trouble  than  to  con- 
ceive of  the  most  natural  and  familiar  objects;  and  while 
the  body  is  confined  to  one  planet,  along  which  it  creeps 
with  pain  and  difficulty,  the  imagination  and  thought  can 
transport  us  in  an  instant  into  the  most  distant  regions  of 
the  universe.  But  although  our  thought  seems  to  possess 
this  unbounded  liberty,  we  shall  find  upon  a  nearer  exam- 
ination, that  it  is  really  confined  within  very  narrow  lim- 
its, and  that  all  this  creative  power  of  the  mind  amounts 
to  nothing  more  than  the  faculty  of  combining,  transpos- 
ing, augmcntinni;,  and  diminishing  the  materials  afforded 
us  by  sense  and  experience."  *• 

Analogical  reasoning  cannot  be  used  or  admitted  in  the 


KNOWLEDGE    OF   GOD.  19- 

present  investigation  in  originating  the  idea  of  God  from 
nature  without  revelation,  because  it  cannot  be  employed 
to  produce  any  original  objective  ideas.  Analogy  in  phi- 
losophy, is  a  term  of  relation,  proportion  or  agreement, 
which  several  things  knoicn  bear  to  each  other  in  the  view 
of  the  mind  in  some  respects,  though  they  differ  in  others. 
In  reasoning  from  analogy,  from  a  few  points  known  and 
allowed,  we  deduce  a  number  of  others.  As  analogical 
reasoning  pre-supposes  the  knowledge  of  the  existence  of 
the  things  compared,  it  cannot  be  used  in  any  theological 
discussion  whatever,  until  the  existence  of  God  is  known 
or  conceded;  or  until  the  things  seen  in  nature  are  prov- 
ed to  have  been  created  from  nothing,  which  I  assert  can- 
not be  done. 

The  formation  of  a  watch  or  a  house,  which  consists  in 
the  adjustment  of  certain  substances  and  powers  of  na- 
ture which  already  exist,  for  particular  purposes,  bears 
no  resemblance,  relation  or  proportion,  or  analogy  to  the 
creation  of  the  substances  and  powers  which  compose 
them,  and  of  course  no  idea  of  a  creation  from  nothing  can 
be  suggested  by  them.  What  these  properties  and  laws 
are,  independent  of  our  perceptions  of  them,  or  rat'ier  of 
their  appearances,  we  are  totally  ignorant,  as  we  are  of 
what  the  worlds  are.  Sense  informs  us  that  they  exist, 
and  consciousness  informs  us  that  we  exist,  and  think,  and 
feel  and  act;  but  neither  informs  us  that  they  were  crea- 
ted, or  that  God  is,  and  that  he  exists  distinct  from,  and  in- 
dependent of  matter  and  its  laws,  and  of  the  worlds  we  see, 
and  of  our  own  minds  and  bodies  — none  of  all  these  in- 
form us  that  God  created  them,  or  that  they  were  made 
at  all,  or  that  God  is,  and  is  every  where  present  and  sus- 
tains all  things,  though  unperceived:  it  is  the  exclusive  of- 
fice of  revelation  to  do  these. 

Many  think  that  it  is  a  disparagement  of  God's  wisdom 


20  KNOWLEDGE    OF   GOD. 

and  goodness,  to  maintain  that  he  has  ordained  and  estab- 
lished a  certain  system  and  order  of  things  according  to 
which  he  makes  himself  known  to  mankind,  and  imparts 
spiritual  knowledge,  faiih  and  love,  and  restores  them  to 
himself.  Vv'hy  should  it  be  any  more  a  disparagement  of 
God's  wisdom  and  goodness  to  believe  that  he  limits  the 
knowlege  of  himself  to  his  own  revelation,  than  that  he  lim- 
its salvation  to  the  atonement  and  mediation  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  natural  vision  to  light,  or  the  support  and  nour- 
ishment of  the  body  to  air  and  food?  The  only  question 
for  us  to  solve,  is,  has  God  done  these  things?  If  he  has, 
our  duty  and  interest  are  to  acquiesce  in  them,  and  go 
along  with  him  in  the  use  of  the  means  he  has  ordained; 
for  should  we  violate  his  order  of  things  in  these  respects, 
we  shall  loose  the  advantage  and  benefit  of  it. 

I  do  sincerely  believe,  that  God  has  formed  the  mind 
with  powers  and  affections  which  render  it  capable  of  re- 
ligion, and  that  in  man's  fallen  state,  God  limits  religious 
knowledge  to  his  word  revealed  by  Jesus  Christ.  And, 
I  do  moreover  believe,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
natural  religion  as  distinguished  from  revealed  religion. 
In  these  sentiments  and  opinions  I  feel  myself  supported 
by  the  word  of  God  itself,  by  the  history  of  the  world,  and 
the  consciousness  of  every  human  mind  that  will  carefully 
attend  to  its  own  operations  and  states,  in  acquiring  spir- 
itual knowledge,  or  the  knowledge  of  the  existence  of 
God  and  of  spiritual  things. 

The  testimony  derived  from  these  sources,  authorises  me 
to  say,  that  the  fall  of  man  in  Adam,  lost  for  him  the  know- 
ledge of  the  existence  of  God  and  of  spiritual  things,  as  they 
exist  distinct  from  nature  and  matter,  and  that  religion,  af- 
ter the  fall,  entered  the  world  by  external  supernatural 
revelation  in  words,  and  that  the  religion -giving  operation 
of  the  spirit  of  God  upon  the  mind  of  man,  is  by  his  word 


KNOWLEDGE    OF    GOD.  2l 

through  Jesus  Christ,  the  sense  and  meaning  of  which  the 
mind  is  formed  to  understand,  believe  and  feel,  by  suita- 
ble and  proper  instruction  and  culture . 

In  my  next  Essay,  I  will  exhibit  what  seems,  from  the 
word  of  God,  and  the  history  of  the  world,  to  have  been 
the  primeval  state  of  man ;  what  were  his  co-eval  endow- 
ments, which  constituted  the  image  and  likeness  of  God, 
in  which  he  was  made ;  how  he  fell,  and  what  he  lost  by 
the  fall. 

This  investigation,  will  enable  us  the  more  clearly  and 
consistently  to  apprehend  God's  method  of  restoring  man- 
kind to  his  fellowship  and  enjoyment,  by  his  grace  through 
the  new  covenant,  by  the  atonement  and  mediation  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  and  the  agencies  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost. 


ESSAY    U. 


CREATION,      TRIAL      AND     FALL     OF     MAN. 


The  image  and  likeness  of  God  in  which  man  was  made  — His  co-ieval 
endowments — His  probation  and  fall,  and  the  loss  of  the  image  of 
God,  without  losing  his  original  mental  faculties  and  susceptibilities. 

The  scripture  informs  us,  that  God  created  man  in  hie 
own  image,  after  his  own  likeness.  God  the  Word  was 
man's  Creator.  "In  him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the 
light  of  men."  All  things  were  made  by  him  and  for  him, 
visible  and  invisible,  and  he  is  before  all  things,  and  by 
him  they  consist. 

The  image  of  God,  in  which  man  was  made,  could  not 
relate  to  man's  corporeal  part,  or  animal  appetites  and  pas- 
uionsj  because  God  has  no  corporeal  part,  nor  animal  appe- 
tites and  passions;  but  it  relates  to  his  spiritual  nature,  to 
his  intellectual  and  moral  powers,  and  spiritual  endow- 
ments. In  that  state  of  man's  likeness  to  God,  his  spirit 
could  not  have  been  ignorant,  evil,  low  or  base.  The  im- 
age of  God,  in  which  he  was  made,  must  have  compre- 
hended the  knowledge  and  love  of  God,  and  fellowship 
with  him,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  creatures  which  God 
had  made,  together  with  the  knowledge  and  use  of  lan- 
guage upon  natural  and  spiritual  subjects,  and  dominion 
of  the  world. 

This  knowledge  and  use  of  language,  and  the  know- 
ledge of  natural  and  spiritual  things,  were  co-eval  endow- 
ments, bestowed  upon  man  by  his  munificent  Creator,  at 


CREATION,    TRIAL    AND    FALL    OF    MAN.  '4i^ 

the  moment  that  he  gave  him  existence.  Hence,  we  find 
in  the  short  account  given  us  in  the  three  first  chapters  of 
Genesis,  that  God  and  man  spake  together  in  the  most  fa- 
miliar and  intimate  manner.  Adam  named  every  living 
creature,  by  divine  direction,  which  God  had  made;  for 
*'the  Lord  God  brought  them  to  Adam  to  see  what  he 
would  call  them,"  to  give  proof  of  his  knowledge  of  their 
nature  and  of  his  knowledge  and  use  of  language,  "and 
whatsoever  Adam  called  every  living  creature,  that  was 
the  name  thereof.  And  Adam  gave  names  to  all  cattle, 
and  to  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  to  every  beast  of  the  field :'" 
Gen.  ii,  19,  20.  Adam  did  not  learn  in  these  cases  by 
the  slow  process  of  observation  and  experience,  as  we  do. 
He  invented  nothing  —  but  all  was  communicated  to  him 
immediately  by  his  Maker,  the  Word  or  Logos.  Adam 
knew  as  God  knew;  he  saw  as  God  saw;  and  he  spake 
as  God  spake,  in  this  case.  His  mind  was  the  image  of 
God's  mind  in  these  things,  and  in  his  affections. 

These  endowments  were  characteristic  of  man's  state 
in  his  first  creation,  to  which  we  have  nothing  analogous 
but  in  what  occurred  on  the  day  of  pentecost,  and  at  dif- 
ferent times  afterwards  during  the  Apostolic  age,  in  the 
knowledge  of  spiritual  things,  and  in  the  gift  of  tongues 
and  the  love  of  God.  These  were  bestowed  by  the  Word  or. 
Logos  made  fiesh^  after  his  glorious  exaltation  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  new  creation,  upon  the  new  made  men, 
who  were  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  him 
who  created  them.  They  spake,  in  languages  or  tongues, 
which  they  had  not  known  before,  and  which  they  were 
taught  immediately  by  God,  the  wonderful  works  of  God. 
All  that  they  said  was  in  reference  to  Jesus  Christ,  and 
partook  of  the  new  creation. 

In  the  original  and  present  state  of  man,  we  must  dis- 
tinguish the  powers    or  faculties,  and    the   susceptibili- 


^  CREATION,    TRIAL    AND    FALL    OF   MAN. 

ties,  which  were,  and  are,  essential  to  his  existence 
and  nature  as  a  moral  creature,  from  their  actual  im- 
provement or  endowment  with  knowledge  which  is  ne- 
cessary to  their  exercise  and  perfection.  Without  this 
distinction,  we  cannot  conceive  how  man  could  have  been 
made  either  wise  or  ignorant,  or  how  sin  could  have  been 
committed,  or  how  any  change  could  have  been  produced, 
or  how  it  now  can  be  in  his  intellectual  or  moral  state. 

Man's  capacity  for  knowing  and  loving  God,  and  for  the 
enjoyment  of  him,  and  for  the  knowledge  and  use  of  lan- 
guage, existed  and  now  exists  distinct  from,  and  independ- 
ent of  its  actual  improvement  and  exercise  in  these  things. 
Man  does  not  possess  innate  ideas,  or  innate  knowledge 
of  God  or  of  natural  things,  nor  does  he  possess  innate 
knowledge  of  language ;  but,  in  the  divine  constitution  of 
his  nature,  he  does  possess  native  powers  and  susceptibil- 
ities, which  capacitate  him  for  acquiring  them;  and  God, 
in  the  spiritual  and  natural  economy,  has  ordained  and 
appointed  means  for  their  attainment  and  improvement. 
These  are  applied  and  used  by  the  influence  of  education. 
Every  parent,  and  teacher,  and  missionary,  acts  upon 
these  principles. 

Since  immediate  revelation  ceased,  the  spiritual  means 
of  instruction  are  to  be  found  in  the  Gospel  of  God's  grace, 
and  in  previous  revelations,  preserved  and  perpetuated 
by  traditions  or  by  written  records. 

In  man's  first  estate,  the  actual  possession  and  exercise 
of  these  endowments,  as  they  were  distinguished  from  the 
original  moral  faculties,  depended  upon  immediate  divine 
communications  and  influences.  These  were  bestowed 
upon  him,  and  might  be  withdrawn,  and  yet  all  the  origi- 
nal native  powers  or  faculties  and  susceptibilities  remain. 
Agreeably  to  these  views,  when  ^iod  made  man  at  first, 
he  formed  in  him  what  may  be  called  natural  principlefi 


CREATION,  TRIAL  AND  FALL  OF  MAN,  25 

consisting  in  mere  human  nature,  and  such  as  I  have  ob- 
served were  essential  to  it,  comprehending  the  body  with 
its  various  members,  organs,  senses  and  powers ;  and  the 
human  soul  or  spirit,  with  its  powers  of  intellect  and  its 
moral  susceptibilities,  including  the  appetites  and  passions. 
These  belong  to,  and  constitute  the  nature  of  man  in  eve- 
ry circumstance  and  condition  irrespective  of  good  or 
evil.  They  existed  as  well  before  the  fall  as  they  have  since. 

These,  when  alone  and  left  to  themselves,  under  the  in- 
fluence and  controul  of  the  objects  of  sense  and  animal 
appetite,  are  what  the  scriptures  call  jlesh,  and  constitute 
the  natural  or  carnal  man :  they  are  all  earthly  and  self 
ish.  In  this  state,  sensual  gratification,  man's  love  of  him- 
self, his  carnal  liberty,  honour  and  pleasure  are  exercised. 
Besides  these  principles  of  nature,  there  were  divine  spir- 
itual endowments  bestowed  upon  man,  consisting  in  the 
knowledge  and  love  of  God  and  love  of  holiness,  which 
were  designed  to  govern,  and  did  govern  the  natural  ones, 
until  the  moment  of  the  fall. 

In  these  consisted  man's  spiritual  resemblance  to  God, 
or  the  image  and  likeness  of  God  in  which  he  was  made. 

In  their  right  exercise  consisted  his  righteousness,  true 
holiness  and  happiness.  These  were  the  co-eval  endow- 
ments of  which  I  have  spoken.  I  repeat,  that  they  com- 
prehended the  knowledge  and  love  of  God,  and  fellowship 
with  him,  and  the  knowledge  and  use  of  language,  being 
such  as  depended  on  God's  immediate  communications 
and  influences,  bestowed  upon  the  original  powers  and  sus- 
ceptibilities of  the  spirit  of  man  as  it  came  out  of  the  hands 
of  us  maker.  Their  continuance  and  enjoyment  depend- 
ed upon  man's  union  and  communion  with  God;  and  these 
depended  on  his  preserving  his  allegiance  to  God  as  a 
moral  subject  of  his  government,  in  holy  subordination 
and  obedience  to  him. 
3  * 


26  CREATION,    TRIAL    AND   FALL    OP    MAN. 

These  divine  endowments  and  influences,  co-evally 
bestowed,  though  withdrawn  from  man,  and  man's  nature 
forsaken  of  them,  human  nature  as  before  described,  would 
be  human  nature  still,  man's  nature  as  such  being  entire 
without  them.  The  soul  of  man,  when  under  the  govern- 
ment and  controul  of  these  divine  principles,  the  scrip- 
tures call  spirit,  in  opposition  to  flesh  as  formerly  explain- 
ed. The  intellectual  and  moral  nature  of  man,  or  his  un- 
derstanding and  affections  may  be  governed  by  the  one  or 
by  the  other  of  these,  and  whichever  of  them  has  the  mas- 
tery over  and  controuls  the  man,  gives  to  him  his  moral 
character,  either  of  religion  and  spiritual  mindedness,  or 
(rf  irreligion  and  carnality. 

The  spiritual  and  superior  principles,  were  given  to 
possess  the  throne,  and  to  maintain  an  absolute  dominion 
in  the  heart,  while  the  natural  ones  were  given  to  be 
wholly  subordinate  and  subsen  ient.  While  things  con- 
tinued in  this  state,  every  thing  was  in  excellent  order 7* 
fellowship  with  God  and  love  and  happiness  prevailed. 
This  was  the  fruit  of  obedience  under  the  covenant  of  in- 
nocence, under  which  God  placed  man,  after  making  him 
in  his  own  image  and  likeness.  Obedience  to  the  will  of 
God  was  the  dignity,  true  glory,  security  and  happiness  of 
man.  Upon  this,  I  repeat,  depended  the  perpetuity  of 
the  image  of  God  in  which  man  was  made,  as  did  also  his 
natural  immortality  and  exemption  from  disease  and  pain. 
In  this  state,  man  could  only  be  justified  by  his  own 
works  of  righteousness  in  obeying  the  law  of  God,  and 
preserving  his  innocence  and  purity.  In  this  situation; 
religion,  or  the  knowledge  of  God,  was  natural  to  man. 
it  formed  a  part  of  the  state  in  which  man  was  made. 
The  divine  constitution,  agreeably  to  which  he  was  made 
and  endowed,  secured  to  him  every  thing  that  was  neces- 
sary for  his  obedience,  righteousness,  holiness  and  happi- 


CREATION,    TR^AL    AND   FALL    OF   MAN.  '47 

ness,  without  any  grace  or  favor,  as  it  is  revealed  in  the 
gospel.  Man  needed  no  Mediator,  and  there  was  none. 
In  his  understanding  there  was  no  darkness  nor  ignorance 
to  the  full  extent  or  degree  of  the  limits  which  God  pre- 
scribed for  his  knowledge,  duty  and  happiness.  In  his 
heart  no  passion  touched  a  discordant  string,  but  all  was 
harmony  and  love. 

By  attending  to  the  three  first  chapters  of  Genesis,  we 
clearly  see,  that  there  was  the  most  intimate  and  familiar 
intercourse  between  God  and  man.  This  was  kept  up 
and  manifested  by  oral  and  verbal  communications.  They 
talked  together  —  Adam  received,  by  words,  communica- 
tions from  his  Maker,  and  he  understood  them  and  spoke 
to  him  in  an  articulate,  vocal  manner.  Verbal  language 
or  speech  was  the  medium  of  communication  between  God 
and  man  before  the  fall,  as  it  ever  has  been,  through  an 
atonement  and  a  mediator,  since  the  falL. 

I  will  now  attend  to  man's  probation  or  trial  under  the 
covenant  of  innocence,  his  temptation  and  fall,  and  the 
consequences  of  it. 

After  God  created  man  in  his  image  and  likeness,  he 
put  him  in  a  state  of  probation,  as  he  seems  to  have  done 
all  his  intelligent  creatures.  He  gave  him  dominion  over 
all  the  things  that  he  had  created,  except  the  fruit  of  one 
tree,  and  made  him  subject  to  himself  only  —  he  gave  him 
also  dominion  over  his  own  appetite,  passions  and  ac- 
tions. He  formed  him  with  appetites,  and  forbade  him  to 
eat  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  in  the  Gar- 
den of  Eden,  as  the  test  of  his  obedience.  The  penalty 
denounced  against  the  violation  of  this  prohibition,  which 
was  made  in  plain  words  and  sentences,  was  death — ■ 
•'And  the  Lord  God  took  the  man  and  put  him  in  the  Gar- 
den of  Eden  to  dress  and  to  keep  it.  And  the  Lord  God 
CQtnaianded  the  man,  saying,  of  every  tree  of  the  garden 


28  CREATION,   TRIAL    AND   FALL    OF    MAN. 

thou  mayest  freely  eat;  but  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it;  for  in  the  day  that 
thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die,"  or  dying  thou 
shalt  die:  Gen.  ii,  15,  17.  This  command  and  prohibi- 
tion of  God,  and  the  penalty  annexed  to  transgression, 
Adam  and  Eve  understood,  as  appears  from  what  after- 
wards occurred.  In  this  case,  God  did  all  that  he^iould 
do,  that  was  consistent  with  his  character  and  agency  as 
the  moral  Governor  of  man,  and  with  man's  agency  as  a 
subject  of  God's  government,  in  a  state  of  probation,  to 
prevent  man's  fall »  When  God  declared  to  man  that  he 
should  not  eat^  he  did  not  mean  that  he  might  eat  with  his 
permission.  But  man  did  eat,  and  thereby  sinned,  by 
transgressing  God's  law  or  will.  He  sinned  by  withdraw- 
ing his  attpntion  from  the  w>ord  of  God  and  its  authority^ 
by  which  he  was  prohibited  and  not  allowed  or  permitted 
to  eat,  and  by  attending  to,  and  acquiescing  in  the  temp- 
ter'^s  contradiction  of  God'^s  icord,  by  which  he  made  God 
a  liar,  and  by  yielding  to  the  influence  of  his  carnal  ap'- 
petite,  imagination  and  passion,  in  opposition  to  it :  —  or, 
in  other  words,  he  sinned  by  yielding  )bedience  to  the 
inferior  carnal  principles,  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of 
the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life,  in  direct  violation  of  God^s 
will  and  law,  clearly  expressed  and  understood,  and  in  op- 
position to  the  superior  principles  of  his  nature.  Before 
he  sinned,  and  while  in  the  image  of  God,  man  saw  as 
God  saw,  he  loved  as  God  loved,  and  he  willed  as  God 
willed.  He  corresponded  in  *hese  respects,  to  the  extent 
of  his  limited  divine  endowments  and  exercises,  with  his 
maker . 

The  internal  states  of  the  mind  are  formed  and  regula- 
ted very  much  by  the  external  perceptions  of  the   mind,^ 
and  the  bearing  which  the  objects  have  upon  its  passions 
and  gratifications ;  and  the  rule  of  duty  and  of  conscience 


CREATION,    TRIAL    AND    FALL    OP    MAN.  29 

is  often  violated  by  imagination  and  passion,  excited  by 
external  objects  of  sense.  This  was  clearly  the  case  in 
the  fall  of  man.  The  tempter  began  his  work  of  ruin  in 
Eden,  by  making  a  false  representation  of  the  word  of 
God  to  the  mind  of  man,  by  which  he  perverted  his  intel- 
lect; and  he  completed  it  by  falsely  clothing  the  forbid- 
den tree  with  qualities,  and  the  eating  of  it  with  advanta- 
ges and  benefits,  which  inflamed  his  imagination  and  pas- 
sions. Without  these,  the  subtle  deceiver  well  knew  that 
he  could  not  induce  him  to  sin.  "And  the  Serpent  said 
unto  the  woman,  hath  God  said  ye  shall  not  eat  of  ev- 
ery tree  of  the  Garden?  And  the  woman  said  unto  the 
Serpent,  we  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  Gar- 
den, but  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
Garden,  God  hath  said  ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall 
ye  touch  it,  lest  ye  die.  And  the  serpent  said  unto  the 
woman,  ye  shall  not  surely  die  —  for  God  doth  know, 
that  in  the  day  ye  eat  thereof,  then  your  eyes  shall  be 
opened,  and  ye  shall  be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil. 
And  when  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for  food, 
and  that  it  was  pleasanf  to  the  eyes,  and  a  tree  to  be  de- 
sired to  make  one  wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and 
did  eat,  and  gave  also  to  her  husband  with  her,  and  he  did 
eat:"  Gen.  iii,  1,  6.  It  was  by  false  words,  in  opposition, 
and  in  contradiction  to  the  true  word  of  God,  that  the  mind 
of  man  in  its  perceptions  ceased  to  harmonise  with  the 
mind  of  God,  and  his  affections  and  will  were  put  in  op- 
positiv  n  to  God,  and  by  a  decisive  choice,  in  accordance 
with  the  false  suggestions  of  the  Devil,  and  his  animal  ap- 
petite and  carnal  imagination,  he  sinned  against  God. 
Releasing  his  mind  from  a  sense  of  the  truth  and  obliga- 
tion of  God's  word,  by  withdrawing  his  attention  from  it, 
and  by  attending  to  and  becoming  engrossed  b)^  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  tempter,  which  he  did  voluntarily,  and  in 


30  CREATION,   TR1A.L    AND    PALL    OF    MAN, 

violation  of  God's  will  and  his  duty  and  ability,  man  had 
nothing  to  oppose  or  controul  his  carnal  appetite  and 
passion,  and  was  of  necessity  precipitated  into  transgres- 
sion. He  ceased  to  use  the  power  that  God  gave  to  him 
to  stand,  and  he  fell.  And  thus  he  separated  himself  from 
God  by  sin.  By  this  he  lost  his-  union  and  fellowship  with 
God,  extinguished  his  love  in  his  own  soul,  and  lost  the 
image  and  likeness  of  God  in  which  he  was  made,  and  in- 
curred his  displeasure  and  all  the  penalties  of  the  viola- 
ted law. 

Man,  with  the  powers  God  gave  him,  could  have  con- 
tinued his  attention  to  what  God  said  to  him,  and  could 
have  continued  to  believe,  feel  and  obey  it,  in  opposition 
to  what  Satan  said;  but  he  did  not,  and  sinned. 

''Attention  is  the  looking  organ  of  the  mind —  the  link 
of  connection  between  man's  moral  nature  and  his  intellec- 
tual nature  —  the  messenger  as  it  were,  by  which  the  m- 
terchange  between  these  two  departments  is  carried  on  — 
a  messenger,  too,,  at  the  bidding  of  the  will,  which  sayeth  to 
it  at  one  time,  go,  and  it  goeth  —  at  another  time,  come, 
and  it  cometh  —  and  again:  do  this,  and  it  doeth  it.  It  is 
thus  that  a  man  becomes  directly  responsible  for  the  con- 
clusions of  his  understanding:  for  these  conclusions  de- 
pend altogether,  not  on  the  evidence  which  exists,  but  on 
that  portion  of  the  evidence  which  is  attended  to.  He  is 
reckoned  with  for  the  lack  or  sufficiency  of  his  attention, 
and  not  for  the  lack  or  sufficiency  of  evidence.  It  is  not 
for  him  to  create  the  light  of  day,  but  it  is  for  him  to  open 
and  present  his  eyes  to  all  its  manifestations.  Neither  is 
it  fbr  him  to  fetch  down  to  earth  the  light  from  the  upper 
sanctuary.  But  if  it  be  indeed  true,  that  light  hath  come 
from  thenfe,  then  it  is  for  him  to  guide  the  eye  of  the  un- 


derstanding towards  i.."  * 


•Dr.  Chalmers. 


CREATION,   TRIAL    AND   PALL    OF   MAN.  31 

in  consequence  of  man's  transgression  his  state  was  to- 
tally changed ;  God  withdrew  from  him,  because  it  would 
have  been  utterly  improper  in  itself,  and  inconsistent  with 
the  covenant  or  constitution  he  had  established  with  him 
in  innocence,  that  he  should  have  still  maintained  com- 
munion wiih  him,  after  he  had  sinned  and  become  a  rebel. 
When  God  withdrew  his  complacential  smiles  and  spiritual 
light  and  influence,  he  left  man  possessed  of  the  inferior 
and  carnal  principles,  and  involved  in  spiritual  darkness, 
guilt  and  death,  to  realize  the  penalty  denounced  against 
transgression,  dying  thou  shalt  die,  in  the  day  thou  ea- 
test. 

The  intellectual  powers  and  moral  principles,  which 
were  essential  to  man's  existence,  as  an  intelligent  being, 
continued,  but  the  co-eval  endowments,  which  constituted 
the  image  of  God,  ceased,  and  man  became  flesh  and  nat- 
urally mortal;  and  religion  ceased  to  be  natural  to  man's 
state ;  that  is,  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God  and  of  spir- 
itual things  ceased  to  be  natural  as  they  had  been.  As, 
when  the  light  is  withdrawn  from  a  room,  it  is  left  in  dark- 
ness, so  the  withdrawal  from  man  of  God's  spiritual  man- 
ifestations, and  the  co-eval  spiritual  endowment  swhich  he 
bestowed  upon  him  in  consequence  of  sin,  left  him  in 
spiritual  darkness  under  the  dominion  of  sense  and  of  an- 
imal appetite  and  passion  —  a  sensual,  selfish  being,  in- 
volved in  guilt,  and  under  the  sentence  of  death. 

It  was  on  account  of  man's  change  from  God,  and  God's 
withdrawal  from  him,  that  religion,  which  was  natural  to 
his  first  pure  estate,  ceased  to  be  natural  to  his  fallen 
state. 

The  religion-giving  manifestations  and  operations  of 
God,  which  were  natural  to  man  while  he  possessed  the 
image  and  likeness  of  God,  were  withdrawn;  but  the  nat- 
ural presence  and  physical  operations  of  God's  spirit,  were 


:^2  CREATION,    TRIAL    AND    FALL    OF    MAN. 

not  withdrawn  from  him.     These  do  not  give  religion,  nor 
religious   and    spiritual    knowledge.     Had   these    ceased 
with  the  withdrawal  of  God's  religion-giving  manifesta- 
tions and  endowments,  man  would  have  instantly  died  a 
natural  deaih,  and  the  human  race  become  extinct.     If  the 
natural  and  immediate  presence  and  physical  operations 
of  God'^s  spirit,  had  been  the  religion-giving  and  the  >  eli- 
gion'SUi>taining  operations  in  the  souU  man  could  not  have 
sinned,  and  all  men  would  naturally,  and  necessarily  have 
religion,  and  thev  would  all  have  it  precisely  alike,   be- 
cause all  men  sre  made  alike,  and  these  operations  are 
alike,  and  common  to  all  men,  and  are  necessary  to  their 
existence.     They  sustain  natural  life,  and  all  the  native, 
intellectual  and  moral  powers  and  susceptibilities  of  man, 
which  survived  the  fall,  and  which  render  him  capable  of 
religion,-  but  the  religion-giving  operations  of  God's  spir- 
it,  which  enlighten  and  improve  his  capacity,  are  by  ex- 
ternal supernatural  revelations,  made  in  intelligible  words 
and  sentences,   and  which  have  for  the  most  part  been  il- 
lustrated and  confirmed  by  miraculous  works. 

These  words  and  works,  since  immediate  supernatural 
revelations  and  miraculous  works  ceased,  are  embodied  in 
the  written  oracles  of  God,  and  are  the  ordained  means  by 
which  spiritual  ideas  are  produced  in  the  mind  of  man, 
and,  under  the  gospel,  are  the  means  by  which  man  is 
renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created 
him.  I  have  said,  that  God  did  all  that  he  could  do,  con- 
sistently with  the  moral  nature  of  his  government,  to  pre- 
vent man  from  sinning.  In  reference  to  the  whole  matter 
he  might  well  have  said,  after  man  sinned :  "What  could 
have  been  done  more  to  man  that  I  have  not  done  to  and 
for  him?  Wherefore,  when  I  looked  that  he  should  have 
been  obedient  and  produced  righteousness,  he  was  diso- 
bedient."    It  is  true  that  God  could  have  prevented  Adam 


CREATION,    TRIAL    AND   FALL    OP    MAN.  33 

^sating  of  the  forbidden  tree  in  various  physical  ways.  He 
could  have  placed  it  out  of  his  reach,  or  he  could  have  giv- 
en him  an  instinctwe  abhorrence  of  the  tree,  but  in  this  he 
would  not  have  acted  as  the  moral  governor  of  man,  and 
in  »hat  case  there  would  have  been  no  need  of  any  pro- 
hibition. 

When,  man  sinned  by  the  misuse  and  abuse  of  his  moral 
powers,  God  did  not  infuse  any  positive  principle  of  cor- 
ruption or  sin  into  his  soul.  He  withdrew  from  him,  and, 
agreeably  to  man's  own  choice,  he  left  him  under  the  in- 
fluence and  controul  of  the  inferior  principles  of  time  and 
sense,  and  animal  appetite,  involved  in  spiritual  darkness 
and  guilt,  and  under  the  sentence  of  death.  In  this  state 
of  sin,  immediately  after  man  fell,  he  had  no  power  to 
choose  life  or  to  reject  it;  because  it  was  not  put  in  his  pow- 
er. Until  God  spoke  to  him  and  gave  him  a  promise,  there 
was  none  to  choose,  or  refuse,  or  hope  for,  I  repeat,  that 
God  did  not  permit  or  allow  Adam  and  Eve  to  eat  of  the 
forbidden  tree  —  he  did  not  permit  them  to  sin  in  any 
sense  tha-.  indicates  his  acquiescence  or  approval.  Had 
this  been  the  case,  the  essence  of  sin  would  have  been 
wanting  in  the  act  of  eating;  it  could  not  have  been  trans- 
gression of  God's  will  and  law  for  them  to  have  eaten. 
The  whole  transaction  is  destitute  of  every  appearance  of 
permission  or  acquiescence  on  the  part  of  God.  Adam 
an-i  Eve  never  once  thought  of  it,  nor  did  the  Devil,  which 
they  certainly  would  have  done  had  it  been  true,  when 
God  pronounced  sentence  upon  them  —  when  he  said  un- 
to Adam,  "Hast  thou  eaten  of  the  tree,  whereof  /  com- 
manded thee  that  thou  shouldest  not  eat?  and  the  man 
said,  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me,  she 
gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat ;"  —  and  when  the  woman 
said,  "The  Serpent  beguiled  me  and  I  did  eat:"  Gen.  iii, 
11,  13.  I  repeat,  that  Adam,  who  was  made  in  the  im- 
4 


34  CREATION,   TRIAL    AND   FALL    OF    MAN. 

age  and  likeness  of  God,  and  who  knew  at  least  as  much 
as  our  modern  philosophers  know  of  the  divine  mind   in 
reference  to  God's  will  concerning  himself,  never  once 
thought  that  God  permitted  him  or  Eve  to  sin;  and  God,  in 
the  sentence  he  pronounced  against  them,  and  the  con- 
sequences that  followed,  gave   awful   proof  of    his    in- 
finite and  eternal  opposition  to  sin.     The  divine  permis- 
sion of  sin,  is  asserted  to  suit  certain  human  theories  and 
systems  of  physical  theology,  which  men  have  formed  m- 
depcndent  of  the  word,  and,  in  many  things',  in  opposition 
to  it.     Had  God  never  spoken  to  man  after  he  sinned,  or 
had  he  made   no  new  communications  to  him,  his  mind 
would  have  of  necessity  been  limited  in  its  knowledge  to 
the  remembrance  of  spiritual  things,  which  he  knew  be- 
fore.    But  God  had  designs  of  mercy  and  grace,  and,  in 
reference  to  the  incarnation  of  the  Word,  his  atonement 
and  salvation  through  him,  manifested  them.     These  were 
progressively  developed  through  different  ages,  until  they 
were  perfected  by  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Gospel.     By  this 
Gospel  man  is  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image   of 
him  who  created  him.     The  principles  by    which  this  re- 
newal is  effected,  are  to  be  found  in  the  gracious  provis- 
ions in    the  new  covenant  through  the  offices  and  agen- 
cies of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  nexD  Creator.     These  secure 
to  the  true  believer  in  Jesus   Christ,  the  remission  of  his 
sins,  through  the  redemption  there  is  in  his  blood,  by  the 
free  grace  of  God  and  a  new  nature,  and  fellowship  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  eternal  glory. 

The  greatest  part  of  the  christian  world  are  Natural- 
Religionists,  who  differ  nothing  from  those  who  call  them- 
selves Deists,  in  the  sentiment  that  nature  indicates  or 
teaches  the  existence  of  God,  independent  of  any  revela- 
tion. In  this  case  they  both  deny  that  the  revealed  word 
of  God  is  the  means  of  original  spiritual  ideas  and  know- 


CREATION,    TRIAL    AND    FALL    OF    MAN.  35 

ledge.  The  natural-religionist  christian,  with  the  Deist, 
moreover  believes,  that  the  word  of  God  was  originally  in 
its'  nouns,  verbs  and  adjectives,  of  human  invention  and 
stipulation,  as  the  ideas  and  objects  which  they  express, 
were  of  human  discovery,  and  that  they  became,  or  v/ere 
made  the  word  of  God  only  by  his  using  them  in  speak- 
ing to  man.  These  opinions  are  in  direct  opposition  to 
what  I  believe  to  be  true,  and  to  the  views  given  in  this 
and  in  the  former  Essay.  I  consider  them  to  be  not  only 
essentially  erroneous  and  false,  but  to  involve  consequen- 
ces which  are  fatal  to  the  consistency  and  practical  belief 
of  the  Gospel,  or  the  christian  religion,  as  they  are  subver- 
sive of  the  whole  word  of  God.  They,  of  necessity,  have 
led  to  unscriptural  views  of  the  operations  of  the  Spirit  in 
giving  religion,  as  they  have  to  the  denial  and  rejection  of 
an  essential  truth  in  the  fall  and  depravity  of  man:  —  I 
mean  the  loss  of  the  kno.vledge  of  God. 

The  doctrine  that  asserts  that  religion  is  natural  to  ths 
fallen  state  of  man,  was  incorporated  into  the  Christian  re- 
ligion in  the  second  or  third  century,  by  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, and  was  derived  from  the  Platonic  philosophy, 
which  was  taught  by  Plato  more  than  three  hundred  years 
before  Christ.  That  philosophy  taught  the  doctrine  of  in- 
jiate  ideas. 

John  Calvin  taught  natural  religion  as  the  foundation  of 
all  religion,  and  maintained  it  as  a  self-evident  truth,  that 
all  men  have  an  innate  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  spiritual 
things.  This  appears  from  his  Institutes.  The  doctrine 
of  innate  ideas  and  of  innate  knowledge  continued  through 
every  period  of  the  christian  religion,  from  the  days  6f 
Clement,  and  formed  an  essential  part  of  it,  down  to  the 
time  of  Locke,  who  exploded  it  in  a  great  degree.  But  the 
effects  of  that  doctrine  have  been  more  or  less  retained  in 
the  systems  of  the  christian  sects,  and  are  now  seen  in 


3b  CREATION,    TRIAL    AND   FALL    OP  MAN, 

their  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith,  and  in  other  printed 
books  on  religion. 

The  doctrine  of  innate  ideas  derived  from  Plato,  was 
incorporated  with  the  christian  religion  and  systematis- 
ed  in  the  third  century  by  Origen,  and  is  called  Platonic 
Christianity. 

This  doctrine  of  the  innate  knowledge  of  God,  and  the 
doctrine  that  religion  is  given  by  the  immediate  inspira- 
tions and  operations  of  God's  spirit,  without  his  word 
since  his  immediate  revelations  and  inspirations  ceased, 
have  been,  and  are,  at  the  foundation  of  all  the  errors  that 
exist  in  the  theories,  systems  and  philosophy  of  religion^ 
deistical  and  christian,  of  the  present  age. 

The  entire  fallacy  of  these  doctrines,  and  their  per- 
verting, corrupting  and  destroying  effects  of  Gospel  truths 
can,  I  think,  be  made  manifest;  and  my  desire  to  make 
them  so,  induces  me  to  institute  an  investigation  of  them 
in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  to  be  conducted  by  a  Deist,  a 
Calvinistical  Christian  Philosopher^  and  a  Christian. 
Each  of  them  will  defend  his  own  peculiar  views  and  sen- 
timents, as  far  as  the  orii^in  of  religion,  or  of  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  and  the  origin  and  use  of  language,  in  words 
and  sentences  as  connected  with  Ihat  knowledge,  are  con- 
cerned. Deist  will  deny  the  necessity  of  a  revelation  in 
words  altogether,  in  order  to  know  God  or  to  have  reli- 
gion. The  Calvinistical  Christian  Philosopher  will  de- 
fend natural  religion  too  with  the  Deist,  and  deny  that 
revelation  is  necessary  to  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of 
divine  things,  to  a  limited  extent,  but  will  agree  that  it  is 
nesessary  to  the  knowledge  of  God's  gospel  character. 
Christian  will  deny  that  it  is  possible  in  the  present  state 
of  man,  to  know  or  to  learn  that  there  is  a  God  at  all,  who 
exis's  distinct  from,  and  independent  of  nature,  or  the  things 
that  are  seen,  or  that  it  is  possible  to  know  that  any  thing 


CREATION,    TRlXh    AND    FALL    OF    MAN.  -i'l 

ever  was  created  or  began  from  nothing,  without 'revela- 
tion. By  revelation  he  will  mean  a  supernatural  commu- 
nication, or  communications  made  by  God  in  words,  and 
illustrated  and  confirmed  by  miraculous  works,  by  which 
the  human  mind  alone  can  obtain  the  idea  or  knowledge 
of  objective  spiritual  existences.  Christain  will  defend  the 
views  given  in  the  former  and  present  Essay,  and  will 
maintain  that  the  word  of  God,  the  history  of  the  world, 
the  philosophy  of  nature,  including  the  human  mind,  and 
every  man's  own  consciousness  when  truly  regarded,  jus- 
tify the  sentiment,  that  religion,  or  the  knowledge  of  God 
to  the  present  fallen  state  of  man,  is  not  natural,  but  su- 
pernatural and  miraculous;  and  that  the  revealed  word  of 
God  is  now  the  only  divinely  appointed  means  of  impar- 
ting to  the  human  mind,  the  idea  or  the  knowledge  of  the 
existence  of  God,  the  fact  of  creation  and  the  existence  of 
spiritual  beings,  who  have  no  perceived  sensible  connec- 
tion with  matter  and  its  laws. 

By  this  investigation  it  will  be  seen,  that  Deists  and 
Natural-Religionist  christians  deny  that  God  is,  in  the 
strict  scriptural  use  of  the  term,  an  object  of  faith,  or  that 
the  fact  of  the  creation  of  the  world  is.  By  denying  that 
the  fall  of  man  lost  for  him  the  image  and  likeness  of  God, 
in  which  he  was  made,  which  included  the  knowledge  of 
God,  they  deny  the  necessity  of  the  atonement,  and  of  the 
Trinity,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  mediation 
of  Christ  under  the  new  covenant,  with  their  appropriate 
effects,  offices  and  agencies,  in  restoring  that  image  and 
likeness  of  God,  comprehending  the  knowledge  and  lovo 
of  him.  While  it  is  a  fact,  that  shall  be  proven,  that  all 
the  divine  communications  and  revelations  which  have 
been  made  to  our  world  since  man  fell,  of  a  religious 
nature,  have  been  made  in  reference  to  and  in  conse- 
quence of  the  vicarious  sufferings  and  propitiatory  deatk 
4* 


■w 


SS  CREATION,    TRIAL    AND   FALL    OF    MAN. 

of  Jesus  Christ,  and  have  been  made  by  the  Father,  anct 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  all  that  has  been  known 
has  been  derived  from  this  source. 

There  has  been  but  one  true  system  of  religion  in  our 
world  since  man  sinned  in  Eden,  and  that  was  revealed . 
All  the  rest  havje  been  false,  and  have  been  corruptions 
of  the  true  one.  That  true  system  passed  through  various 
stages  and  degrees  of  development,  through  the  long  period 
of  four  thousand  years,  and  was  perfected  by  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  Gospel,  and  is  intended  to  bring  this  world,  by  its 
light  and  power,  under  his  government,  as  Lord  of  all. 
But  this  cannot  be  done  until  all  the  erroneous  and  false 
lighrs  are  extinguished,  and  the  world  is  brought  to  be- 
hold the  true  light,  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  hy  which  alone  man 
can  be  renewed  in  the  image  of  God. 


DIALOGUE   I. 


NATURAL     RELIGION     INVESTIGATED. 


Natural  religion  investigated — The  knowledge  of  God  is  not  derived 
from  nature  —  There  is  no  Deism  or  Natural  Religion;  and  no  innate 
knowledge  of  God,  as  was  maintained  by  Calvin. 

Deist.  —  Gentlemen,  our  world  is  very  much  divided 
and  agitated  on  the  subject  of  religion.  The  peace  and 
harmony  of  our  own  neighbours  are  very  much  injured  by 
it.  Is  there  no  remedy  for  these  evils ;  or  are  we  d  oomed 
to  perpetual  strife  on  account  of  religion? 

Calvinist. —  These  things  are  the  consequences  of  hu- 
man depravity,  and  can  find  no  remedy  but  in  the  sove- 
reign grace  of  God. 

Deist.  —  Your  remedy  seems  to  me  to  be  the  very 
eause  of  the  disease.  The  people  who  you  say  are  the 
subjects  of  God's  grace,  and  talk  most  about  human  de- 
pravity, are  the  fomenters  and  agitators  of  the  strife,  and 
evince  often  more  depravity  and  corruption  than  other 
people  do.  I  have  known  many  peaceable,  kind  citizens, 
who  seemed  to  be  humble,  benevolent  and  charitable  to 
their  neighbours,  before  they  professed  religion  and  joined 
a  church,  afterwards  become  unkind  and  censorious,  and 
manitest  a  spirit  of  persecution  and  slander.  Indeed 
the  most  bloody  persecutions  that  have  ever  fouled  and  dis- 
graced the  name  of  humanity,  have  been  perpetrated  by 
professed  christians,  and  to  promote  Christianity.     There 


40  NATIJRAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

has  been  no  persecution  of  christians  in  Christendom,  ex- 
cept by  christians,  for  the  last  fifteen  hundred  years. 

Christian.  —  It  is  true  that  all  Christendom  is  agitated 
by  religious  sects,  and  divisions,  and  dreadful  persecu- 
tions have  been  perpetrated  by  professed  christians  a- 
gainst  each  other,  and  these  are,  and  have  been  the  effects  of 
human  depravity,  which  have  no  remedy  but  in  the  grace 
of  God.  But  I  fear,  Calvinist,  that  God's  method  of  impar- 
ting that  grace  to  the  human  heart,  is  greatly  misappre- 
hended and  corrupted.  The  christian  religion,  which  is  a 
divine  supernatural  system  of  grace  and  truth,  in  its  own 
appropriate  operations  and  effects,  never  did,  and  never  can 
produce  pride,  unkindness,  or  persecution.  You  see  its 
proper  nature  and  character  manifested  in  the  doctrines 
and  life  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles. 

This  religion  understood,  believed  and  practised,  will 
purify  our  worH,  and  produce  union,  peace  and  happiness 
in  the  human  family. 

Deist.  —  I  do  not  believe  in  your  supernatural  chris- 
tian religion.  I  am  a  natural  religionist,  and  derive  all 
my  religion  from  nature,  which  is  the  religion  of  philoso- 
phy. 

Calvinist.  —  I  profess  to  be  a  natural  religionist  too, 
but  I  believe  also  in  the  christian  religion;  but  this  "is  hid 
from  the  wise  and  prudent  and  is  revealed  unto  babes." 

There  are  two  kinds  of  religion  in  the  world,  which  are 
taught  by  all  orthodox  divines  in  our  theological  schools, 
and  out  of  them.  The  first  is  commonly  called  natural 
religion,  by  which  is  meant,  that  knowledge  of  God 
which  we  derive  from  ourselves,  and  from  the  appearan- 
ces and  operations  of  nature  without  any  revelation.  This 
religi'^»n  is  altogether  independent  of  the  second  kind,* 
which  is  called  revealed  religion,  and  is  the  foundation 
of  it. 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  41 

The  second  kind  of  religion  is  termed  re"^^ealed  reli- 
gion, because  it  is  supernatural,  and  makes  known  the 
moral  character  of  God  more  fully  than  natural  religion 
does.  It  moreover  clearly  reveals  the  salvation  of  sinners 
in  the  gospel,  and  is  that  which  by  the  power  of  God  con- 
verts sinners. 

Deist.  —  1  cannot  say  any  thing  in  favor  of  your  su-r 
pernaturally  revealed  religion,  because  I  <:onot  believe  it. 
I  will  leave  'hat  for  Christians  to  fight  about,  as  they  ever 
have  done,  and  to  settle.  They  say  that  it  is  the  im  nedi- 
ate  gift  of  God,  and  has  n  >fhing  to  do  with  reason,  or  rea- 
son with  it;  the  latter  of  which  I  believe.  Sipernaturally 
revealed  religion  is  properly  the  religion  of  the  unlettered 
and  ignorant  portions  of  society,  and  is  only  suited  for 
babes  and  novices,  to  the  exclusion  of  ^^the  ivise  and  pru- 
dent.''''  But  natural  religion  is  the  religion  of  the  Philoso- 
pher, and  properly  belongs  to  philosophy,  and  to  men  of 
learning  and  science  —  to  the  wise  and  prudent.  With 
this  religion  I  profess  to  be  acquainted,  and  am  prepared 
to  defend  it. 

When  mankind  shall  have  been  improved  and  elevated 
by  the  knowledge  of  this,  divisions  and  strife  will  cease, 
and  peace  and  friendship  will  prevail.  I  call  this  nitu- 
ral  revelation,  because  it  is  revealed  by  nature  to  the 
Philosophic  mind.  In  this  5e7?5e,  there  is  no  man  that  be- 
lieves in  revealed  religion  stronger  than  I  do,  but  it  is  not 
the  reveries  of  the  Old  Testament,  or  of  the  New,  or  of  the 
Koran,  that  I  dignify  with  that  sacred  title.  That  which 
is  revelation  to  me,  consists  in  something  which  no  human 
mind  can  invent,  and  no  human  hand  can  counterfeit. 
Mine  is  the  earlier,  unsophisticated,  universal  revelation. 
Creation  and  nature  which  we  behold,  and  which  every 
body  can  see,  are  the  word  of  God.  This  word  of  God 
reveals  to  all  men  who  are  capable  of  reading  it,  all  that 


42  NATURAL    EELICION    1^V  i  S^TIGAl  ID. 

is  necessary  for  man  to  know  of  his  Creator.  Do  we 
then  want  to  know  what  God  is?  Search,  not  the  book 
called  the  Scriptures,  which  any  human  mind  might  have 
formed,  or  any  impostor  have  invented,  but  search  the 
book  called  nature,  and  her  laws.  This  is  no  counterfeit 
production  of  ignorance  or  knavery,  or  both,  as  is  your 
Bible,  and  whi-'h  ought  to  be  rejected  as  a  solemn  impos- 
ture. Cultivate  nature  and  follow  her  suggestions  and 
dictates,  and  she  will  teach  you  all  that  you  can  know  of 
God,  and  will  guide  you  to  heaven. 

Christian.  —  I  am  not  displeased  with  the  frankness 
with  which  you  have  expressed  yourself,  but  feel  greatly 
afflicted  that  your  ignorance  and  impiety  should  have  been 
thus  manifested.  Your  natural  religion  is  nothing  more 
than  a  plagiarism  from  the  revealed  word  of  God,  which 
you  so  much  deride,  as  far  as  the  idea  of  God  and  of  Cre- 
ation are  concerned.  I  agree  with  you,  that  that  which  is 
revelation  in  religion,  consists  in  something  which  no  hu- 
man mind  can  invent,  and  no  human  hand  can  counter- 
feit. This  I  assert  is  precisely  true  in  regard  to  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Bible,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  being  of 
God  as  the  Creator  of  the  world.  Without  supernatural 
revelation  in  words,  illustrated  and  confirmed  by  miracu- 
lous works,  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  God  and  of  other 
spiritual  beings,  who  exist  distinct  from,  and  independent 
of  sensible  nature,  and  of  nature's  laws  and  powers,  and 
the  fact  of  creation,  could  not  be  known  to  man  in  his 
present  state.  Divine  revelation  was  the  earlier,  unso- 
phisticated source  of  religious  and  spiritual  knowledge, 
and  your  natural  religion  is  nothing  more  than  a  counter- 
feit production. 

Divine  revelation  has  been  handed  down  by  tradition, 
and  has  been  transmitted  in  some  form  or  other,  to  every 
age  and  portion  of  ihe  human  family,  where  the  idea  of 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  43 

God  has  existed.  In  its  progress  it  has  undergone  many 
changes  and  corruptions;  I  therefore  insist  upon  it,  that 
your  natural  religion  or  deism,  which  you  Deists  and  Cal- 
vinists  defend,  has  been  derived  from  divine  revelation 
and  is  a  corruption  of  it,  and  in  your  own  language,  Deist, 
is  "a  counterfeit  production,  of  error,  ignorance,  or  knave- 
ry, or  all  united,  and  ought  to  be  rejected  as  a  solemn  im- 
posture." It  has  done  more  to  pervert  the  human  mind, 
and  to  strengthen  its  corruptions,  and  to  nullify  the  word 
of  God,  and  prevent  mankind  receiving  it  as  the  word  of 
God,  than  all  other  causes  united  together.  In  the  hands 
of  those  christian  teachers  who  profess  to  believe  in  natu- 
ral religion,  it  has  involved  Christianity  itself  in  the  most 
glaring  absurdities  and  contradictions.  To  the  extent  it 
operates,  it  supersedes  the  word  of  God  as  the  means  of 
the  knowledge  of  spiritual  and  divine  things,  as  it  is  the 
means  of  faith;  and  when  a  sinner  is  converted,  it  makes 
his  conversion  to  depend  uffon  the  mimediate  physical  op- 
erations of  the  spirit,  and  not  upon  the  belief  oi  the  truth. 
God  has  never  spoken  to  our  world  since  it  first  sinned 
against  him,  but  in  language,  which  was  in  strict  accor- 
dance with  man's  fallen,  corrupt,  guilty,  and  ignorant 
state,  and  in  reference  to  his  purpose  of  grace  and  mercy 
given  to  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  all  the  religion  that  is  in 
the  world  was  originally  derived  from  his  revelation. 

As  I  desire  this  subject  to  be  thoroughly  investigated, 
I  wish  you  to  read  with  care  the  two  essays  which  pre- 
cede this  conversation.  This  will  save  us  much  repeti- 
tion, and  lead  us  directly  into  the  merits  of  the  investiga- 
tion. I  repeat  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  natural  reli- 
gion, no  idea  or  knowledge  of  God  without  revelation  in 
words;  this  revelation  has  always  been  made  in  reference 
to  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  the  Trinity. 

Calvinist. —  This  is  all  passing  strange  to  me.     Can 


44  NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

it  be  possible  tliat  all  the  good  and  great  men  have  been 
mistaken  ?  Surely  it  cannot.  John  Calvin  was  esteem- 
ed an  orthodox  divine.  He  believed,  as  much  as  any  man 
can  do,  in  the  doctrines  of  grace  and  in  human  depravity, 
and  its  consequences,  and  he  was  a  great  naturai-religion- 
ist.  He  believed  that  man  has  naturally  kn  wledge  suffi- 
cient, but  that  his  heart  is  corrupt;  his  disposition  is 
wrong. 

Christian. —  If  you  will  examine  Calvin's  views,  as 
they  are  connected  with  natural  religion,  you  will  find 
them  essentially  deistical.  He  maintained  the  doctrine  of 
innate  ideas,  and  denied  that  sin  lost  for  man  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  —  he  denies  virtually  that  God  is  an  object  of 
faith,  in  the  scriptural  use  of  the  term.      Heb.  xi,  1. 

Calvixist.  —  Permit  me  to  exhibit  a  few  extracts  from 
Calvin's  Iastit;.tes.  The  principles  expressed  in  them 
form  a  part  of  almost  all  protestant  creeds  and  confessions, 
and  are  found  in  almost  all  the  systematic  writers  on  the- 
ology. ' 

In  the  third  chapter  of  the  first  vol.  of  the  Institutes,  en- 
titled, "ihe  hitman  mind  naturally  endowed  with  the  know- 
ledge of  God,"  he  observes:  "We  lay  it  down  as  a  propo- 
sition not  to  be  controverted,  that  the  human  mind,  even 
by  natural  instinct,  possesses  some  sense  of  Deity,  the  ob- 
literation of  which  is  more  difficult  than  a  total  change  of 
the  whole  disposition.  *  *  *  It  will  al'vays  be  evi- 
dent to  persons  of  correct  judgment,  that  the  idea  of  a  De- 
ity impressed  on  the  mind  of  man,  is  indelible.  That  all 
have  by  nature  an  innate  pert^uasion  of  the  divine  exis- 
tence, a  persuasion  inseparable  from  their  very  constitu- 
tion, we  have  abundant  evidence." 

"Whence  we  infer  that  this  is  a  doctrine  not  first  to  be 
learnt  in  the  schools,  but  which  every  m^n  from  his  l.irfh 
is  self  taught.     Men  need  not  go  out  of  ihemselves  pro- 


W 


.       "  NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  45 

vided  ihey  do  not,  by  arrogating  to  themselves  what  is  giv- 
en from  Heaven,  smother  the  light  which  ilhiminates  their 
minds,  to  a  clear  discovery  of  God."  He  also  speaks  of 
'Hhe  seeds  of  divinity  sDwn  in  the  nature  of  man.""  Again 
he  observes,  "as  the  perfection  of  a  happy  life  consists  in 
the  knowledge  of  God,  that  no  man  might  be  precluded 
from  attaining  felicity,  God  hath  not  only  sown  in  the 
minds  of  men  the  seeds  of  religion  already  mentioned,  but 
hath  manifested  himself  in  the  formation  of  every  part  of 
the  world,  and  daily  presents  himself  to  public  view  m  such 
a  manner,  that  they  cannot  open  his  eyes  without  being 
constrained  to  behold  him.  The  Lord  abundantly  mani- 
fests his  wisdom  to  every  individual  on  earth,  who  is  fur- 
nished with  no  other  assistance  than  their  own  eyes. 
Such  a  knowledge  ought  not  only  to  excite  us  to  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  but  likewise  to  awaken  and  arouse  us  to  the 
hope  of  future  life," 

These  are  the  views  of  Calvin  on  the  subject  of  natural 
religion.  The  Westminster  and  Baptist  confessions  of 
faith  also  declare,  that  "the  very  light  of  nature,  in  man, 
and  the  works  of  God  declare  plainly,  that  there  is  a  God." 
To  the  same  purpose  I  might  quote  learned  and  pious  men, 
in  every  age;  such  as  Barrow,  Butler,  Tillotson,  Stilling- 
fleet,  Dr.  S.  Clarke,  and  Dr.  A.  Clarke,  Doddridge,  Mack- 
night,  and  Dwight.  We  are  required  to  believe  in  the  ex- 
istence of  God,  but  we  do  not  go  to  the  Bible  for  proof 
of  this  great  doctrine.  It  is  presupposed  from  the  very 
nature  of  things. 

Deist. —  Calvin  was  a  much  greater  philosopher  than 
I  had  supposed  him  to  be.  Christians  you  see  go  to  the 
Bible  for  the  rule  of  faith,  as  they  call  it,  but  they  derive 
faith  itself  from  the  light  of  nature.  How  much  more  rea- 
sonable are  these  views  of  Calvin  than  are  those  o^ reveal- 
ed religion,  which  involve  all  the  revolting  absurdities, 

5 


46  NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

perplexities  and  mysticisms  that  belong  to  the  doctrine  oi' 
your  Bible,  including  the  vicarious  sufferings  and  death 
of  Jesus  Christ,  or  the  atonement  as  you  call  it,  and  of 
the  remission  of  sin  through  his  blood,  and  of  a  Mediator, 
and  of  a  Trinity,  or  three  gods  in  one  God.  Of  what  use 
I  ask  3^ou,  is  what  you  call  the  written  word  of  God,  and 
which  is  derived  from,  and  based  upon  the  religion  of  na- 
ture, as  you  have  allowed,  Calvinist,  to  a  mind  which  pos- 
sesses from  nature  the  ideas  and  knowledge  which  Calvin 
has  described,  "such  a  knowledge  as  ought  not  only  to  ex- 
cite us  to  the  worship  of  God,  but  likewise  to  awake  and 
arouse  us  to  the  hope  of  future  life?"  What  is  the  use  of 
your  rule  of  faith,  about  which  Protestants,  and  Papists 
contend  so  much,  as  derived  from  God  by  a  supernatural 
revelation,  when  all  agree  that  we  possess  the  knowledge 
of  God,  and  of  faith  itself,  without  any  supernatural  reve- 
lation from  God?  In  comparison  to  the  religious  know- 
ledge derived  from  nature,  your  christian  religion  is  as  a 
lighted  taper  to  the  sun.  And  there  is  about  as  much  use 
for  it,  to  an  enlightened  mind,  enlightened  by  natural  sci- 
ence, in  order  to  the  knowledge  of  God,  as  there  is  for  a 
lighted  taper  at  noon  day,  to  discover  visible  objects  by. 
We  need  no  revelation  to  make  that  known  which  we  are 
informed  of  by  nature  j  nor  do  we  need  any  immediate 
miraculous  operations  of  God,  to  produce  or  excite  feelings 
which  relate  to  God,  or  to  naturally  visible  things,  that  are 
excited  by  the  qualities  of  objects  perceived  by  nature. 
This  is  a  plain  common-sense  truth,  that  men  practice  up- 
on, and  acknowledge  every  day  in  the  ordinary  pursuits 
of  life. 

The  various  devices  and  means  which  christians  em- 
ploy lO  conceal  the  absurdities  of  their  systems,  to  blind 
their  own  minds,  and  impose  upon  the  ignorance  and  cre- 
dulity of  others,  are  truly  remarkable.     The  Papists  prac- 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  4^ 

lice  a  hundred  mummeries  and  nonsensical  ceremonies,  to 
advance  their  superstition  and  idolatry,  and  to  perpetuate 
their  despotism  over  the  human  mind.  They  claim  the 
right,  the  exclusive  right  and  authority,  and  the  power  to 
do  these  things  from  Peter,  by  divine  appointment.  The 
Protpfitant  sects  allow  their  people  to  read  the  scriptures, 
which  is  forbidden  by  the  Papists,  but  deny  that  they  can 
derive  any  light  from  them,  without  some  immediate  mi- 
raculous operation.  They  address  the  imaginations  and 
passions  of  the  people,  and  get  up  protracted  and  big 
meetings,  and  camp  meetings,  and  anxious  seats,  by  which 
they  excite  their  fears,  imaginations  and  passions,  and 
render  them  credulous  to  what  they  say  —  all  the  emo- 
tions and  sensations  that  are  felt  on  these  occasions,  are 
ascribed  to  the  immediate  power  of  God,  and  the  people 
believe  it,  and  are  induced  to  join  the  parties  by  which 
they  have  accidentally  been  excited.  And  in  this  wa}^ 
they  strengthen  their  sectarian  armies.  The  way  by  which 
this  business  is  managed,  is  the  following:  the  leaders 
will  not  allow  to  mankind,  any  native  religious  suscepti- 
bilities of  mind,  which  may  be  acted  upon,  and  excited 
and  improved  by  natural  religious  objects,  because  this 
would  subvert  all  the  pretensions  and  claims  they  set  up 
to  the  immediate  distinguishing  and  special  favour  of  the 
Almighty,  which  they  think  are  manifested  by  the  excite- 
ments and  feelings  they  experience,  to  the  exclusion  of 
others,  while  they  allow  men  to  have  natural  religion, 
such  as  Calvin  has  described.  Whitefield  and  Wesley 
were  master  spirits  in  this  business,  particularly  the  for- 
mer, as  many  men  are  in  this  age. 

Calvin's  views  of  natural  religion,  as  quoted  by  Calvin- 
ist,  sweep  away  at  one  stroke  all  these  impositions  and 
absurdities.  To  allow  to  man  natural  powers  and  suscep- 
tibilities for  religion,  and  to  nature  the  power  of  improv- 


48  .NATURAL    RELIGION    IN VESTIGATEiy. 

ing  them  into  natural  religion,  as  Calvinist  has  done,  an«3 
then  to  deny  that  their  revealed  religion  has  any  power, 
or  fitness  in  it  to  excite  the  mind,  or  the  mind  any  power 
or  susceptibility  to  be  enlightened  and  excited  by  it,  is  an 
iibsurdity  too  glaring  to  escape  the  notice  of  any  man 
whose  mind  is  not  blinded  by  ignoranfp;  or  prejudice,  and 
is  an  acknowledgment  that  revealed  religion  has  no  claims 
upon  the  notice  and  regard  of  the  rational  powers  of  men 
as  we  find  them.  It  proves  that  their  revealed  religion 
is  untrue.  While  the  history  and  the  present  state  of  the 
idolatrous  world  prove  natural  religion  true.  There  is  not 
a  heathen  nation  upon  earth  that  does  not  possess  and  man- 
ifest original  native  powers  and  susceptibilities,  as  well 
for  religion  as  for  other  things  —  man  would  be  a  clod  with- 
®ut  them.  Their  existence  is  essential  to  the  constitution 
and  being  of  the  human  mind.  The  manner  and  the  or- 
der of  the  exercise  and  improvement  of  the  mind  in  reli- 
gion, and  in  every  thing  else,  are  regulated  by  these  laws 
and  principles,  or  faculties  of  the  mind;  and  the  objects 
and  systems  by  which  it  is  influenced,  give  character  to 
it,  whether  they  be  true  or  false.  The  truth  of  these  re- 
marks is  illustrated  and  confirmed,  by  the  different  man- 
uers  and  customs  which  distinguish  different  nations  from 
each  other,  and  by  tlie  present  state  of  the  various  and 
opposing  sects,  as  well  among  idolaters,  as  among  chris- 
tians. 

I  ask  your  pardon,  gentlemen!  perhaps  I  have  spoken 
too  freely  in  the  views  that  I  have  given.  I  have  ac»ed 
thus,  because  I  supposed  that  you  desired  and  designed  to 
have  a  free  investigation*  marked  with  great  frankness 
and  cnndor. 

The  truth  is,  that  there  is  an  utter  inconsistency,  and 
repugnancy,  between  natural  religion  nnd  revealed  reli- 
nfion,  both  in  relation  to  the  objects  of  them,  and  in  their 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  49 

connection  with  the  mind,  and  in  ihe  faculties  and  powers 
of  ilie  inin  J,  by  which  they  are  professed  to  be  perceived, 
believed  and  felt.  The  fbriner  are  natural,  and  are  per- 
ceived to  be  connected  with  the  mind  by  nature,  and  they 
are  perceived,  understood  and  believed  and  felt  by  the 
natuiai  posvers,  faculties  and  susceptibilities  of  the  mind. 
The  latter  are  supernatural  or  imaginary  —  they  have  no 
naturally  perceived  connection  with  the  mind  by  nature, 
and  they  are  not  perceived,  understood,  believed  or  felt, 
by  the  natural  faculties,  powers  and  susceptibilities  of 
mind,  but  by  superinduced  powers  and  affections  by  the 
immediate  power  of  God. 

AH  men  have  the  former  religion  naturally,  and  until 
they  are  by  one  way  and  another,  deprived  of  common 
sense  and  reason,  and  made  to  believe,  like  the  Shakers 
and  Mwrmoniie=^,  that  they  have  new  and  immediate  divine 
revelations,  and  operations,  they  cannot  receive  the  latter. 
Christian.  —  You  see  now,  Calvinist,  a  plain  state- 
ment of  the  inconsistency  there  is  between  your  natural 
religion,  and  your  revealed  religion.  One  or  the  other 
is  false.  I  maintain,  that  natural  religion  is  false,  or  is  a 
corruption  of  revealed  religion,  and  was  originally  borrow- 
ed from  it,  and  cannot  exist  without  it.  However  offen- 
sive and  revolting  it  may  seem  to  you.  Deist,  and  to  other 
natural-religionists,  I  affirm,  that  without  the  fact  of  the 
Atonement  and  the  Trinity,  and  their  effects,  there  is  no 
religion  in  the  world. 

I  desire  a  free  and  full  discussion  of  this  subject,  and 
therefore  wish  you  to  use  the  utmost  liberty  of  remark 
that  is  consistent  with  good  decorum,  and  a  proper  regard 
for  christian  feelings.  Protracted  meetings  do  not  of  ne- 
cessity involve  the  evils  of  which  you  speak.  Your  quo- 
tati.ins  from  Calvin's  Institutes,  Cal"inist,  prove  what  I  al- 
ledgedofhim.  He  firmly  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  innate 
5* 


50  NATlTRAIi    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

ideas,  or  of  innate  religion;  a  doctrine  which  early  chris- 
tians derived  from  the  philosophy  of  Plato,  a  leading  prin- 
ciple in  whi^h,  Mosheim  informs  us,  was,  that  •'the  divine 
nature  is  diffused  through  all  the  human  soul,  and  that  the 
faculty  of  reason  is  an  emanation  of  God  into  the  human 
soul,  and  comprehends  in  it  the  principles-and  elements  of 
all  truth,  human  and  divine.  With  this  view  originated 
iAie  doctrine  of  innate  ideas."  This  doctrine  has  been  long 
ii'irkce  exploded  by  Locke,  but  its  effects  and  consequences, 
have  been  retained  by  Papists  and  Protestants,  under  va- 
rious notions,  and  are  found  in  the  various  systems  of  this 
age,  and  must  be  exploded  before  the  Word  of  God,  as  the 
word  of  God,  can  have  free  course  to  be  glorified. 

For  my  views  of  the  subject  look  back  into  the  first 
Essay.  I  concede  to  the  human  mind,  original  native 
powers  and  susceptibilities,  which  survived  the  fall,  and 
which  render  man  capable  of  acquiring  from  supernat- 
ural revelation  the  knowledge  of  God  and  religion,  and 
which  are  improvable  in  spiritual  things,  by  the  word 
<9f  God;  but  I  deny  that  religious  knowledge  and  affection, 
are  natural  to  man's  present  state,  or  that  he  can  acquire 
the  idea  of  God,  the  knowledge  of  whose  existence  is  the 
basis  of  all  religion,  or  the  idea  of  a  creation,  or  of  the  fact 
of  a  creation  without  supernatural  revelation  made  in 
svords  and  miraculous  works.  And  I  assert,  that  since 
immediate  supernatural  revelations  ceased  in  words  anr 
miraculous  works,  the  human  mind  has  been,  by  divine 
constitution  and  appointment,  pr  by  fixed  laws  of  its  na- 
ture, limited  to  God's  written  word,  and  to  the  traditions 
«f  his  word,  in  acquiring  the  idea  of  God,  and  of  religious 
knowledge.  If  this  be  true,  then  all  the  true  knowledge 
of  God  that  has  existed,  and  does  exist  in  the  world,  ha? 
been,  and  is  derived  from  God's  revealed  word  as  the 
moans  of  spiritual  ideas,  and  all  the  erroneous  and  false 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  51 

knowledge  has  been  the  effect  of  perverting  or  corrupting 
that  word.  It  will  moreover  follow,  that  Natural  religion, 
or  Deism,  for  which  you  both  contend,  is  false,  and  that 
the  Christian  religion,  embracing  the  Atonement  and  the 
Trinity,  is  the  perfection  of  all  former  revelations,  and 
that  all  that  either  of  you  know  of  God,  or  spiritual  things, 
you  are  in  truth  and  in  fact  dependent  upon  the  word  of 
God  for.  In  this  investigation  there  can  be  no  difficulty; 
if  you  have  arrived  at  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  a  cre- 
ation, from  or  by  nature,  you  can  easily  show  me  the  pro- 
cess or  rational  procedure  by  which  you  did  so.  Do  this 
truly,  and  I  will  yield  the  subject  of  investigation  in  fa- 
vour of  natural  religion;  and  if  you  cannot,  you  must 
yield  it  in  favour  of  Christianity.  You  must  take  nothing 
for  granted  that  is  not  self-evident  in  this  investigation, 
and  I  will  assume  and  concede  nothing.  I  am  thus  par- 
ticular, because  things  operate  upon  the  mind  in  matters 
of  religion,  not  as  they  are  in  themselves,  but  as  the  mind 
perceives  them.  I  desire  you  to  see  and  receive  the 
word  of  God,  not  as  the  word  of  man,  but  as  it  is  in  truth 
and  indeed,  the  Word  of  God,  that  it  may  effectually  work 
in  you.  When  you  shall  thus  believe  it,  you  will  need  no 
other  faculties  and  susceptibilities  than  those  you  possess, 
as  native  faculties  and  powers ,  and  which  are  essential- 
to  the  existence  of  your  mind,  and  are  by  their  divine  con- 
stitution, improvable  by  the  Gospel  into  spiritual  discern- 
ment, and  spiritual  mindedness.  The  mind,  by  its  na- 
ture andc<institution,  derives  its  characler  from  the  things 
it  believes  and  practises,  as  well  in  religion  as  in  other 
things.  This  is  the  reason  of  the  diversities  that  exist  in 
religious  characters. 

Should  it  turn  out  that  all  that  we  know,  or  can  know 
of  God,  and  that  our  faith,  and  hope,  and  love,  and  reli- 
gious activity,  and  enjoyment,  are  derived  from  revela- 


S2  NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

tion,  and  are  pnxJaced  by  it,  /hen  the  iong  controversy  wiH 
be  ended  abour.  free  agency,  and  free  wii'  in  religion,  and 
the  gift  of  faith,  etc.  as  it  will  be  settled  that  God  gives 
us  all  these  hy  and  through  his  word.  The  necessity  of 
using  the  word  of  God  as  a  school  book  in  the  cultivation 
of  .'he  youthful  mind,  in  intellectual  and  moral  learning 
and  improvements,  as  well  as  in  religion,  will  also  be  es- 
tablished, as  will  the  duty  and  privilege  of  all  men  to  be 
christians,  and  of  christians  to  be  more  spiritual  and  holy 
than  they  are. 

Deist.  —  I  readily  grant  that  if  I  cannot  arrive  at  the 
knowledge  of  God  from  nature,  there  is  no  natural  reli- 
gion, and  1  shall  be  obliged  to  give  it  up.  And  should 
your  views  on  the  subject  be  (rue.  they  will  introduce  a 
new  epoch  in  religi')n  and  morals,  which  will  give  to  the 
Bible  a  divine  certainty  and  importance,  which  are  not 
realized,  or  even  thought  of,  or  believed  by  any  christian 
seoK  in  chrisiendom,  notwithstanding  the  great  noise  that 
is  made  in  behalf  of  the  Bible. 

You  will  indeed  make  it  a  school  book  and  a  classic  in 
every  grade  of  education,  from  the  Nursery  to  the  Uni- 
versity, and  prove  it  to  be  absolutely  necessary  to  the  civ- 
ilization of  the  world;  for  without  the  knowledge  i»f  God, 
man  must  be  savage.  In  that  case,  it  will  be  impossible 
to  exaggerate  the  importance  or  the  value  of  the  Bible, 
and  of  Bible  societies;  and  all  christians  must  be  one^ 
who  do  indeed  take  the  Bible  for  their  religion. 

But  1  cannot  give  up  natural  religion,  and  will  proceed 
to  show  the  process  by  which,  without  revelation  in  words, 
I  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  a  Creation.  I 
have  two  wavis  by  which  1  do  this,  which  are  short  and 
easy. 

The  first  is  from  effect  to  cause.  The  second  is  from 
the  appearances  of  design  and  contrivance  in  the  forma- 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  53 

tion  of  the  world.  In  these  I  omit  the  argument  derived 
from  analogy,  for  the  reasons  assigned  in  the  first  Es- 
say ;  because  the  object  of  comparison  in  analogical  rea- 
soning, must  be  discovered  and  known  before  it  can  be 
compared.  My  first  process  is  to  reason  from  effect  to 
oQuac  I  see  that  the  world  exists.  It  could  not  have  ex- 
isted forever,  and  therefore,  it  must  have  had  a  begin- 
ning. It  could  not  have  created  itself,  and  must  therefore 
have  had  a  Creator.  This  Creator  I  call  God.  In  all 
this,  I  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  revelation,  or  revela- 
tion with  me,  further  than  nature  is  concerned. 

M)' second  process  is  the  following:  Everything  in 
the  world  is.  from  its  nature  and  fitness  in  the  great  sys- 
tem of  things,  suited  to  answer  particular  purposes  and 
ends.  This  indicates  design  and  wisdom.  The  various 
parts  thus  formed  and  qualified,  could  not  have  come  into 
existence,  or  have  placed  themselves  in  the  system  by  ac- 
cident, or  chance.  I  therefore  infer,  that  there  was  a  wise 
designer  w\io  made  them,  and  organized  the  system  in  all 
its  parts.     This  designer  or  maker,  I  again  call  God. 

Thus  you  sec  how  very  easy  it  is  to  prove  the  exis- 
tence of  God,  without  supernatural  revelation,  which  has 
been  done  a  hundred  times  before  by  Deists  and  Natural- 
religionist  christian  philosophers.  I  have  had  nothing  to 
do  with  a  revelation,  or  with  the  atonement  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  the  Trinity,  or  a  Mediator.  These  are  things 
which  have  nothing  to  do  with  jpure  theism,  which  is  the 
religion  of  philosophers,  as  was  fairly  evinced  by  the  quo- 
tations from  Calvin's  Institutes. 

Christian.  —  After  reading  over  carefully  the  first  Es- 
say again,  you  cannot  say  that  you  have  acted  philosophi- 
cally, or  logically,  in  either  of  your  attempts  to  prove  from 
nature,  the  existence  of  God.  In  both  cases  you  have 
begged  the  question,  as  all  Deists  and  Natural-religionists 


54  NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED, 

have  done  before  you.  In  Jaying  down  your  premises? 
you  have  taken  for  granted,  what  the  argument  required 
you  to  prove.  I  assert  that  without  revelation  we  do  not 
know,  and  cannot  find  out  the  beginning  or  the  creation 
of  any  thing  from  nothing.  I  therefore,  in  the  absence 
of  revelation,  deny  that  there  ever  was  the  creution  of 
any  thing  from  nothing;  or  that  you  can  have  any  idea  of 
it;  or  that  material  nature  ever  had  a  beginning  of  either 
its  substances,  or  laws  and  powers;  and  without  a  begin- 
ning you  have  no  need  of  a  beginner  or  a  designer.  I  de- 
ny that  the  abstract  existence  of  any  thing  proves  or  indi- 
cates that  it  ever  began.  If  it  does  so,  then,  admit  that 
God  exists,  it  proves  that  he  had  a  beginning  as  truly  and 
logically  as  that  any  thing  else  had. 

I  grant  that  every  effect  must  have  a  cause,  but  in  this 
argument,  in  the  absence  of  revelation,  I  deny  that  the 
existence  of  the  world  of  nature  is  an  effect,  or  that  it 
ever  was  produced  from  nothing.  Do  order,  harmony  and 
fitness,  necessarily  indicate  the  beginning  of  that  in  which 
they  exist?  If  they  do,  then,  admitting  the  existence  of 
God,  order,  harmony  and  fitness,  in  his  nature  and  attri- 
butes, indicate  that  he  began.  Order,  harmony  and  fit- 
ness, in  the  universe,  abstractly  considered,  without  revela- 
tion, prove  nothing  more  than  that  they  exist,  and  all  that 
can  be  learnt  from  (hem,  are,  the  laws  and  principles  by 
which  they  are  preserved.  It  is  hy  faith,  or  by  revela- 
tion, that  we  know  that  God  is,  and  that  the  worlds  were 
created  by  the  word  of  God.  When  thus  known  an  a  Cre- 
ation, "the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  fir- 
mament sheweth  his  handy  work."  Natural  experience 
and  observation  teach  us,  that  out  of  nothing,  nothing  is 
produced.  God  is  an  object  of  faith,  so  is  the  fact  of  cre- 
ation. Objects  of  fnith  are  made  known  by  revelation  — 
by  supernatural  revelation  in  words,  and  not  by  natural 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  55 

appearances.  In  both  of  your  attempts  to  show  the  ex- 
istence of  God,  you  have  employed  and  used  the  ideas  and 
the  words  of  revelation,  or  you  could  not  have  had  one 
thougat  upon  the  subject,  or  have  used  a  single  word. 

Deist.  —  Permit  me  to  try  again.  The  medical  world 
believes  in  the  existence  of  a  particular  poison,  called 
Marsh  Miasmata,  yet  by  none  of  our  senses  is  this  sub- 
stance perceived.  Its  effects  alone  in  the  production  of 
disease  testify  its  existence.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  deleterious  agents  which  are  productive  of  influenza, 
measles,  small-pox,  cholera,  etc.  From  their  effects  alone 
do  we  derive  our  knowledge  of  them.  Nor  do  we  ask  for 
the  aid  of  revelation  on  the  subject.  The  same  is  true 
with  respect  to  gravitation,  electricity,  magnetism,  caloric, 
and  even  the  principle  of  vitality.  We  have  no  sense  to 
take  immediate  cognizance  of  these  subtle  matters  —  we 
simply  witness  in  nature  around  us,  their  uniform  effects. 
That  these  effects  have  some  cause,  we  are  compelled  by 
the  constitution  of  our  intellects  to  believe,  for  man  is  es- 
sentially inclined  to  researches  in  causality.  We  in- 
quire after  causes,  and  not  being  able  to  find  them  among 
visible  agents,  we  consider  them  as  invisible,  and  attach 
to  them  for  their  designation,  the  foregoing  names.  In  all 
this  there  is  no  revelation  in  words. 

Lest  you  should  not  be  satisfied  with  these  examples 
and  proofs,  permit  me  to  exhibit  another  proof  by  which  I 
can  arrive  at  the  idea  of  God  without  a  supernatural  reve- 
lation. 

In  contemplating  the  works  of  nature,  I  discover  a  phe- 
nomenon, or  appearance,  for  which  by  the  utmost  stretch 
of  thought,  I  cannot  account,  through  the  influence  of  nat- 
ural laws,  or  of  any  natural  agent.  I  run  over  all  the 
properties  of  matter  that  are  known  to  me,  and  find  them 
insufficient  for  the  solution  of  the  difticulty.     Yet  the  phe- 


56  NA^TURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

nomenon  is  an  effect,  and  as  such,  must  have  a  cause.  At 
once,  therefore,  I  fancy  a  cause,  and  immediately  adopt  it 
as  an  object  of  belief.  This  cause  is  something  invisible, 
different  from  matter,  possessing  higher  power  than  mat- 
ter, placed  even  Leyf>nd  the  bourne  of  what  I  mean  by 
the  term  nature.  I  therefjre  consider  it  supernatural,  and 
denominate  it  spirit.  In  this  process  of  investigation,  the 
number  of  spiritual  beings  supposed  to  be  discovered,  will 
be  in  +he  inverse  ratio  of  the  inielligence  of  the  discoverer. 
The  Philosopher  will  find  but  few,  and  they  will  be  great. 
Their  influence  will  be  extensive,  and  their  action  will  be 
powerful.  They  will  be,  according  to  circumstances,  De- 
mi-gods or  Gods.  The  Philosopher,  by  pushing  this  in- 
quiry to  the  requisite  extent,  widening  progressively  the 
sphere  of  his  observations,  generalizing  as  he  advances, 
on  an  ampler  scale,  and  embracing  in  his  view  the  un- 
broken uniformity  that  pervades  creation,  and  (he  bound- 
less power  and  wisdom  that  mark  the  movements  and 
economy  of  the  universe  —  by  proceeding  thus,  he  arrives 
at  length  at  a  belief  in  the  existence  of  one  supreme  —  all 
povjerful  and  wise,  the  God  at  once  of  the  Philosopher 
and  the  Christian. 

Here  you  perceive  that  there  is  no  revelation  in  words 
and  sentences,  nor  is  any  necessary.  Here  is  no  primi- 
tive invention  of  names  to  serve  as  means  to  conduct  us 
to  a  knowledge  of  substances  or  things,  to  which  they  are 
to  be  afterwards  attached,  as  their  appellatives.  No:  we 
first  discover  \\\c  things,  and  then  name  them — we  discov- 
er them,  as  Calvin  said,  by  looking  at  nature,  and  into  our 
own  minds. 

Christian.  —  I  have  now,  I  suppose,  your  entire  sys- 
tem of  reasoning  by  which  you  profess  to  arrive  at  the 
knowledge  of  God.  I  must  repeat  my  regret,  that  you 
had  not  read   more  carefully  the  first  Essay.     Do  exam- 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  59 

ine  it  again.  I  have  in  that,  anticipated  all  that  you  have 
said,  and  have  shown  that  it  is  utterly  inapplicable  to  the 
object  you  designed  it  for.  Natural  experience  and  obser- 
vation teach  you  nothing  beyond  the  objects  of  sense,  and 
the  powers  of  nature,  by  which  natural  appearances  are 
produced. 

In  matters  of  natural  science  I  grant  that  things  must  be 
first  known,  or  discovered,  before  names  can  be  invented 
and  attached  to  them,  as  their  appellatives.  Natural  things , 
however,  are  known  by  their  natural  phenomena,  or  sen- 
sible appearances.  Without  these  they  could  not  be  dis- 
covered; and  of  course  without  them,  names  could  not  be 
invented  and  attached  to  them,  as  their  appellations. 
Matters  that  are  purely  spiritual,  have  no  natural  phenom- 
ena or  appearances^  and  of  course  they  cannot  be  natural- 
ly known  or  discovered,  and  therefore  names  cannot  be 
invented  and  attached  to  them  by  the  human  mind,  from 
any  thing  that  appears  in  nature.  This  is  truly  and  prop- 
erly the  case  with  regard  to  God,  and  other  spiritual  exis- 
tences which  have  no  perceived  sensible  connection  with 
the  objects  of  nature.  As  they  have  no  natural  appear- 
ances by  which  their  existence  might  be  known  or  discov- 
ered, and  names  might  be  given  to  them,  they  must  have 
been  revealed  by  supernatural  manifestations.  These 
supernatural  manifestations  were  made  by  God  himself. 
Spiritual  things  were  made  known  by  their  names,  which 
God  himself  stipulated  and  established  by  frequent  revela- 
tions, as  their  signs .  The  poisons  which  produce  the  dis- 
eases to  which  you  have  referred,  are  made  known  and 
discovered  by  their  sensible  phenomena  or  appearances, 
in  their  production  of  diseases.  This  is  also  true  of  the 
principle  of  gravitation  and  life  —  they  are  known  by 
their  sensible  effects,  none  of  which  have  any  applicadon 
to  ihe  subject  now  under  discussion.  As  a  Philosopher, 
6 


;5y  NATURAL    RELIGION    IN VESTIGATEl*. 

you  arc  compelled  to  concede,  that  it  is  your  duty  and 
your  province  to  explain  natural  effects  by  natural  causes, 
and  having  arrived  at  ultimate  or  first  principles,  to  stop, 
as  they  constitute  the  limits  or  boundar},  beyond  which, 
philosophy  and  science  cannot  go. 

Were  you  perfectly  acquainted  with  all  the  principles 
and  laws  of  nature,  by  which  all  the  phenomena  or  effects 
in  nature  are  produced,  no  case  of  ignorance  could  occur, 
in  reference  to  any  phenomenon,  such  as  you  have  sup- 
posed, which  would  start  your  fancy,  in  violation  and  in 
subversion  of  your  philosophy  and  reason,  to  create  demi- 
gods or  gods  to  explain  it .  Every  natural  phenomenon, 
is  explicable  by  natural  laws,  and  leaves  you  involved  in 
Atheism,  without  any  suggestion  of  the  existence  of  God, 
if  you  reject  revelation.  When  natural  science  shall  have 
been  perfected,  and  every  thing  concerning  the  operations 
and  laws  of  nature  shall  be  known,  and  appropriate  names 
be  given  to  every  thing  discovered  by  natural  phenomena, 
within  the  whole  bounding  circle  of  the  sensible  universe, 
there  will  be  no  spiritual  idea,  or  thought,  or  word,  if  you 
exclude  revelation.  If  supernatural  revelation  in  words 
and  miraculous  works,  be  entirely  excluded,  God  will  not 
be  known,  because  all  natural  effects  are  explicable  by 
natural  causes,  and  rise  no  higher  than  nature.  For  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  spiritual  things,  we  are  limited 
to  the  supernatural  revelations  of  God,  which  have  been 
made  by  words  and  by  miraculous  works,  neither  of  which 
can,  in  the  present  advanced  period  of  natural  science, 
be  explained  by  natural  principles,  either  in  regard  to  the 
inventions  of  the  human  mind,  or  the  operations  of  nature, 
which  sufficiently  prove  that  religion  is  supernatural  and 
miraculous  to  the  present  state  of  man,  and  could  not  have 
existed  but  by  the  direct  and  immediate  agency  of  God. 
I  have  often  heard  it  alledged  by  way  of  reproach  to  chris- 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  OU 

lianity,  that  "ignorance  is  the  mother  of  devotion,""     This 
has  been  said  by   Deistical  philosophers  —  this  you  have 
now  frankly  acknowledged  to  be  true  in  regard  to  Deists. 
In    the  case  you  have  supposed,  had  you   never    heard 
of  God  as  the   Creator  of  nature,   which  is  derived  from 
revelation,  when  you  discovered  the  phenomenon  of  which 
you  were    ignorant,    you  would  have  regarded  it,  as  you 
are  obliged  to  do  many    others,  as  the  etiect  of  a  law  of  na- 
ture,   which    you    had  not  investigated,  and  your  fancy 
could  never  have  tak  ea  its  flight,  and  by  no  possibility 
could  you  have  transcended  the  bourne  of  nature,  or  have 
created  any  thing  without  the  materials  which  nature  fur- 
nished,  as   Hume  has  well   observed.     After  fabricating 
your  God  by  fancy,  which  you  did   in  consequence  of 
your  ignorance  of  a  phenomenon  of  nature,  should  that  phe- 
nomenon be  afterwards  understood  by  you  by  a  more  per- 
fect knowledge  of  nature's  laws,  your  God  would  become 
extinct;  —  yes,  your  God  which  is  o.  fiction  of  fancy,  and 
which  you  denominate,  because  you   borrowed  the  name 
from  the  scriptures,  "the  one  Supreme,  and  all  wise,  the 
God  at  once  of  the  Philosopher  and  the  Christian,"  would 
be   annihilated  by  that  discovery,    and  you   would   sink 
down  into  Atheism.     But  Atheism  cannot  be  true,  or  be 
for  one   moment  sustained  by  reason,  because  the  know- 
l€dge  of  God  in  the  world  cannot  be  explained  or  accoun- 
ted for,  but  b}-  the  fact  of  his  existence,  and  of  his  having 
revealed  himself — God  the  Word,  in  his  mediatorial  char- 
acter, has    been  the  speaker  and  teacher  to  man  since  he 
fell,  as  he  has  been  the  revealer  and  source  of  language 
on  spiritual  subjects,  and  the   source  of  spiritual  know- 
ledge. 

Calvinist.  —  1  have  attended  carefully  to  all  that  you 
have  said,  and  have  examined  the  two  Essays,  Christian, 
and  confess,  that  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  defend  Calvin's 


60  NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

views  of  natural  religion.  The  suggestions  you  have 
made  in  relation  to  the  origin  of  language  in  religion^ 
which  you  assert  originated  in  the  Logos,  or  Word,  and 
is  the  means  of  spiritual  ideas  and  knowledge,  are  in  di- 
rect opposition  to  all  the  systems  and  opinions  of  this  age. 
All  believe  that  God  when  he  speaks  to  men,  uses  the 
words  of  men,  invented  by  themselves,  to  make  known  the 
things  of  God,  which  if  true,  men  must  have  known  the 
things  of  God  without  any  revelation,  and  must  have  dis- 
covered them  before  they  invented  the  words  which  ex- 
press them.     Can  this  be  true? 

Deist.  —  Yes,  it  is  true,  if  natural  religion  be  true,  and 
proves  that  there  is  indeed  no  revealed  religion  at  all  —  it 
proves,  that  all  that  your  Bible  says,  were  the  original  in- 
ventions of  men,  both  in  regard  to  things  and  language, 
and  that  instead  of  men  being  dependent  upon  God  for 
what  is  made  known  in  the  scriptures,  God,  if  he  has  said 
any  thing,  was  dependent  upon  men  for  what  he  said. 
The  Bible,  agreeably  to  this  view  of  the  subject,  may  do 
very  well  for  the  unlearned  and  ignorant  portions  of  soci- 
ety, but  the  Philosopher  and  man  of  science,  go  to  the 
source;  they  *'rise  through  nature  up  to  nature*s  God' 
without  revealed  words  and  sentences.  I  confess  that 
Christian's  views  of  the  origin  of  language  on  divine  and 
spiritual  subjects,  have  something  in  them  which  embar- 
rasses me.  I  have  ever  considered  lanr:^nage  to  be  the  ex- 
pression of  the  various  states  of  the  mind,  which  are  pro- 
duced by  its  sensible  connection  with  the  external  world, 
and  by  its  own  internal  action;  or  in  other  words,  that 
language  is  the  manifestation,  by  sounds,  andactions,  and 
written  signs,  of  the  ideas  and  feelings,  sentiments  and  re- 
flections of  the  mind,  and  which  must  have  of  course  ori- 
ginated in,  or  been  invented  by  man  —  scientific,  natural 
man. 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  61 

But  agreeably  to  Christian's  view  of  language  in  its  ori- 
gin and  use  in  religion,  and  on  spiritual  subjects,  it  was 
revealed  and  stipulated  by  God  himself,  and  is  by  his  ap- 
pointment the  means  of  spiritual  objective  ideas,  and  of 
thought  and  feeling,  as  it  is  the  instrument  of  expressing 
Ihem.  If  this  be  true,  language  in  religion  in  its  original 
ideas  i&  perfect,  and  is  capable  of  no  improvement,  except 
by  new  revelations;  and  all  that  we  have  to  do,  or  can  do 
in  religious  improvement,  is  to  learn  the  meaning  and 
sense  of  the  nouns  and  verbs,  and  adjectives,  and  other 
parts  of  speech,  which  compose  what  is  called  the  word  of 
God,  and  to  improve  the  faith,  and  hope,  and  love  which 
it  produces,  by  cherishing  its  sense  and  spirit,  and  by 
practising  the  duties  which  it  requires.  But  the  truth  of 
all  this,  is  contradicted  by  the  consent  and  conduct  of  ev- 
ery christian  sect. 

They  have  almost  all  of  them  made  their  own  creeds 
and  confessions  of  faith,  which  must  have  been  formed  to 
remedy  the  perceived  defects  and  imperfections  of  the 
scriptures,  and  to  improve  the  word  of  God.  They  have 
by  these  means  made  different  denominations,  and  differ- 
ent sorts  of  christians,  which  are  known  by  different 
names,  forms  of  worship  and  language  j  their  views  of 
God  are  different,  and  their  affections  and  conduct  towards 
each  other  are  different  from  what  they  are  towards  their 
own  parties .  There  are  some,  to  be  sure,  who  profess  to 
renounce  and  disown  all  human  creeds  and  confessions, 
and  to  take  the  naked  book  and  word  of  God  to  be  their 
religion,  but  there  is  as  great  a  diversity  and  contrariety 
among  them,  a  s  there  is  among  the  creed-makers.  Among 
them  I  find  Arians  and  Socinisns,  Unitarians  and  Trini- 
tarians. There  are  some  among  them,  who  deny  the 
atonement  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  proper  divinity,  and 
who  assert,  that  sinners  are  saved  by  the  grace  of  God  with- 
6* 


{y2  NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

out  an  atonement,  and  there  are  others  who  affirm  these 
things.  Indeed  some  of  them  approach  so  near  to  Deism, 
that  It  seems  to  me  that  the  scriptures  are  rather  an  in- 
cumbrance to  their  systems,  than  any  real  use  to  them, 
except  in  furnishing  them  with  some  colourable  pre- 
tence of  being  christians,  and  of  giving  consequence  and 
importance  to  a  low,  selfish,  vain,  party  spirit. 

Now,  I  ask,  how  can  all  this  diversity  and  contrariety 
exist,  if  the  scriptures  be  true,  and  are  the  only  means  of 
divine  and  spiritual  knowledge,  and  of  religious  union, 
peace  and  love? 

Christian.  —  The  word  of  God  is  perfect,  and  means 
the  same  things  now,  that  it  did  when  it  was  first  reveal- 
ed, and  is  intended  for  the  same  purposes  now  that  it  was 
then.  What  is  true  now  was  true  then,  and  ever  will 
be;  and  of  course  admits  of  no  changes.  It  speaks  the 
same  things  to  all  men,  under  similar  circumstances;  and 
when  truly  apprehended,  understood,  believed  and  prac- 
tised, it  makes  all  alike,  in  faith,  hope  and  love.  It 
leaves  no  room  or  occasion  for  new  or  original  discove- 
ries in  religion.  The  right  interpretation  of  the  scriptures 
is  that  which  deduces  from  them  the  very  sense  which 
the  Holy  Spirit,  by  the  writers  of  them  intended  to  con- 
vey. To  understand  the  writings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  to 
connect  with  his  words  the  objects  and  the  thoughts  which 
he  designed  to  designate  and  express  by  them. 

The  creeds,  sects  and  systems,  which  you  have  men- 
tioned, and  which  you  think  originated  trom  the  imperfec- 
tion and  defects  of  the  word  of  God  among  professed  chris- 
tians, had  their  origin  in  the  false  opinion  which  you  and 
Calvinist  entertain  of  revelation,  and  in  the  corruption  of 
it.  They  originated  in  a  total  misapprehension  of  the  ne- 
cessity, nature  and  use  of  the  word  of  God.  Those  per- 
sons with  whom  they  began,  believed  as  both  of  you  do. 


NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED.  63 

that  the  language  of  the  word  of  God  was  of  human  inven- 
tion and  stipulation,  and  of  course  that  the  things  which  it 
reveals  were  discovered  by  the  natural  operations  and  ef- 
forts of  the  human  mind,  before  the  language  was  inven- 
ted. The  false  assumption  of  power  that  this  opinion 
makes  for  the  human  mind,  to  invent  and  form  religion, 
and  to  make  religious  creeds  and  systems  without  revela- 
tion, denies  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  and  releases 
the  mind  altogether  from  its  use  and  authority.  And,  ad- 
mitting God  to  have  spoken  to  us  by  it,  it  makes  him  de- 
pendent upon  man  for  all  that  he  has  said.  It  puts  man  in 
the  place  of  God,  in  the  original  discovery  of  it,  and  it 
puts  God  in  the  place  of  man  ,  as  dependent  upon  him  for 
its  use. 

Calvinist.  —  What  you  have  both  said,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  depravity  of  man,  &hows  the  necessity  of 
the  operations  of  the  Spirit  distinct  from,  and  independent 
of  the  word,  to  convert  sinners,  and  to  make  them  know 
and  believe  that  the  word  of  God  is  true,  whether  it  was 
invented  by  men  originally  or  not. 

Chkistian.  —  Agreeably  to  your  views  of  the  word, 
whatever  may  be  said  about  the  operations  of  the  Spirit, 
in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  it  is  self-evident  that  the  Word 
has  nothing  fo  do  with  it.  That  word,  and  the  things 
which  it  expresses,  having  been  of  human  invention, 
agreeably  to  your  vieA'  of  it,  it  cannot  by  any  divine  in- 
fluence, impart  to  the  mind  more  than  it  possesses  natu- 
rally! It  can  communicate  no  idea  or  information  that  is 
not  natural  to  the  human  mind.  Agreeably  to  this  view, 
the  objects  of  faith  are  all  of  human  invention  or  discove- 
ry, as  is  the  language  which  expresses  them.  This  is  the 
reason  of  the  confusion  and  contradictions,  and  of  the  sects 
an.l  parties  that  exist  in  reiiifion.  Every  body  is  se-  to 
work  to  make  religion  for  himself,  and  cuts  and  mangles 


64  NATURAL    RELIGION    INVESTIGATED. 

the  precious  word  of  God  as  if  it  was  not  a  body  of  living 
triitli.  And  faith,  instead  of  its  heiui^  the  knowledge  and 
belief  of  things  not  seen,  and  which  are  onSy  known  by 
the  revelations  of  ihe  word  of  God,  is  any  thing  thai  any 
person  pleases  to  make  it,  except  what  God  has  described  it 
to  be.  And  all  the  sijcculations  and  controversies  about 
the  operations  of  the  Spirit,  are  produced  by  unscriptural 
views  of  the  subject,  and  essentially  by  wrong  views  of  the 
word  of  God.  Erroneous  views  of  the  operations  of  the 
Spirit,  or  rather  unscripfcural  ones^  are  believed  and  main- 
tained, to  remedy  the  defects,  or  rather  the  flagrant  errors 
of  your  views  of  the  divine  origin  and  use  of  the  word  of 
God  in  religion.  After  nullifying  the  word  of  God,  by 
making  it  the  word  of  man,  your  system  requires  the  im- 
mediate physical  agencies  of  the  Spirit,  to  enable  you  and 
others  to  believe  it  to  be  ihe  word  of  God;  and  this  of 
course  cannot  be  supposed  to  he  done  without  the  opera- 
tion of  new  facuj'ies  and  powers,  which  are  superinduced 
by  the  Spirit  upon  the  human  mind  and  manifest  them- 
selves by  imagination  and  passion. 

The  Spirit  never  can  reveal  any  thing  more  by  the 
word  than  is  in  it  —  than  is  in  its  sense  and  meaning,  and 
which  it  had  when  it  was  first  revealed  and  written,  and 
will  forever  have.  Agreeably  to  Paul's  view  of  the  sub^ 
ject,  the  word  of  God  itself  was  revealed  by  the  Spirit  to 
the  Apostles,  \vhich  they  .spoke  to  make  kfiown  the  things 
of  God,  and  faith  produced  by  it  consists  in  the  belief  of 
that  word,  by  which  the  things  of  the  Spirit  are  received, 
havinji  been  first  discerned  through  the  word.  The  nat- 
ural  or  animal  man  —  the  man  who  sees,  and  judges  every 
thing  by  sense,  nnd  the  light  of  nature  and  carnal  rea- 
son, as  Deists  and  Natural-religionists  discern  them,  — dis- 
cerns not  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  because  he  rejects  the 
word  of  God,  as  the  ivord  of  God,  by   which  they  are 


NATURAL    RELIGION    IN VESTIGATEb.  65 

made  known,  and  therefore  he  receives  them  not  as  they 
are  revealed:  Cor.  ii,  11,  14;  and  this  is  the  reason  why 
natural  men  are  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  in- 
deed  can  be:  Rom.  viii,  7.     Before   they   can  be  made 
subject  to  the  law  of  God,  and  dm  righteousness  of  the  law 
be  fulfilled  in  them,   by  walking  according  to  the  spirit, 
they  must  be  made  free  by  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  which 
Paul  calls  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus: 
Rom.  viii,  2.     I  repeat,  that  there  is  no  power  given  to 
man,  or  occasion  left  him  for  making  any  new  or  original 
discoveries  or  improvements  in  religion.     What  you  have 
said,   Deist,    is  true;   all  that  we  can   do,  is  to  learn  the 
grammatical  and  historical  sense  and  meaning  of  the  word 
of  God,  in  its  own  parts  of  speech,   facts,  statements  and 
connections,  and  to  believe  it  by  its  own  testimony,  as  it  is 
in  truth  and  indeed  the  word  of  God;   to  submit  implicitly 
to  its  authority ;   to  cherish  the  spirit  and  temper  which  it 
inculcates,  and  to  practice  the  duties  it  requires,  regarding 
all  the  doctrines  and  ordinances  of  the  Gospel,  as  instru- 
mental  and   subservient  to  the  formation   and   improve- 
ment of  the  christian  character,  and  to  the  individual  and 
social  usefulness  and  happiness  of  man,  and  the  glory  of 
God.     This,  if  suitably  regarded,  would  soon   bring   all 
christians  to  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace, 
and  to  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God.     It  is  not  realized  sufficiently  by  christians, 
that  the  existence  and  operations  of  the  spirit  himself,  are 
objects  of  faith,  and  are  only  known  by  revelation. 

In  the  next  Essay  I  will  take  up  in  form,  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  origin  and  use  of  language  in  religion,  and 
spiritual  science. 


ESSAY    IIL 


i'HE    ORIGIN     AND     USE    OF    LANGUAGE    IN     RELIGION 


Without  revealed  language,  revealed  and  stipulated  h\ 
God  himself,   I  maintain,  that  in  the  fallen  state  of  man, 
he  would  be  destitute  of  the  knowledge   of  God,  and  of 
spiritual  things. 

I  grant  that  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  the  use  of  lan- 
guage have  existed  in  the  world  since  it  was  made.  The 
Bible  takes  these  thinfis  for  granted,  but  it  in  no  instance 
or  degree  asserts,  or  implies,  that  since  the  fall  of  man, 
they  have  existed  independent  of  supernatural  revelation 
in  words  and  sentences,  or  that  they  have  existed  as  a 
natural  endowment,  but  uniformly  the  contrary. 

It  is  true  that  language  is  the  expression  of  the  various 
ideas  and  states  of  mind,  which  are  prodaced  by  its  sen- 
sible connection  with  the  external  world,  and  by  its  own 
internal  operations.  In  other  words,  language  is  the 
manifestation,  by  sounds  and  actions,  and  written  signs,  of 
ideas  and  feelings,  sentiments  and  reflections.  Language 
bears  a  necessary  and  specific  relation  to  the  intellect 
in  all  its  varying  states  and  conditions,  as  produced  by 
external  objects,  and  its  own  perceptions  and  operations. 
But  language  cannot  be  employed  to  express  or  represent  a 
state  that  does  not  exist.  The  mind  sustains  no  naturally 
perceived  sensible  connection  with  spiritual  things,  and 
consequently,  no  idens,  thoughts  or  feelings,  are  produced 
by  such  a  connection.     Language  in  this  case  cannot  bo 


ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF    LANGUAGE    IN    RELIGION.  6/ 

invented  by  man,  because  of  the  want  of  tiie  ideas  and 
knowledge  of  the  spiritual  things  of  which  language  is  the 
sign,  and  represent ation.  Ideas  and  feelings  must  exist 
before  language  can  be  formed  or  used  to  express  them. 
Bat  original  ideas  and  feeimi^s,  in  relation  •;o  God  and 
spiritual  things,  are  not  produced  by  any  connection  that 
the  mind  bears  to  natural  and  sensible  objects,  and  of 
course  language  to  express  them  could  not  be  formed  by 
any  operaii.)n  of  the  mind  upon  them,  or  by  any  sensible 
connection  they  sustain  to  it.  On  divine  and  spiritual 
subjects,  the  Logos  or  Word  is  the  author  of  language,  as 
he  is  the  Light  of  the  world.  Language  in  this  case,  is 
the  means  by  which  spiritual  ideas,  knowledge,  faith  and 
feeling  are  produced  in  the  human  mind,  as  it  is  the  in- 
strument by  which  they  are  expressed.  The  objects 
which  produce  the  various  ideas  and  states  of  mind  in  re- 
ligion, are  objects  o^  faith,  and  not  of  sense,  and  bear  no 
naturally  perceived  sensible  connection  with  the  mind. 
Revelation  makes  them  known  to  the  mind,  as  it  is  the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen.  This  recorded  revelation 
consists  in  nouns  and  verbs,  and  adjectives,  which  are  all 
supernatural,  miraculous  and  divine  in  their  origin,  as 
they  are  in  the  record  and  in  the  heart  that  believes  them. 
These  are  the  sounds,  and  actions,  and  written  signs,  by 
which  God  communicates  or  produces  ideas,  knowledge, 
faith  and  feelings,  of  and  concerning  himself,  and  other 
spiritual  things,  in  the  human  mind,  and  by  which  they  are 
expressed  and  manifested. 

In  this  case  the  mind  is  the  recipient  of  spiritual  intel- 
ligence, and  language  is  the  instrument  by  which  it  is 
conveyed  to  it,  and  is  afterwards  the  means  of  expressing 
it  and  its  effects  upon  the  mind  and  states  which  it  produ 
ces. 

After  the  mind  is  instructed  by  revelation  in  the  exis- 


68  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF    LANGUAGE    IN    RELIGION. 

tence  of  God,  and  the  fact  that  he  created  the  world  and 
sustains  it,  it  cannot  embrace  either  his  form  or  essence, 
or  mode  of  opera. ion,  because  we  see  him  only  through 
the  revelation  wh'ch  is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen. 
That  revelation  associates  God  with  the  things  seen  as 
their  Creator. 

Nature  is  necessary  for  acquiring  spiritual  ideas,  since 
the  immediate,  supernatural,  and  miraculous  revelations 
and  inspirations  ceased,  although  it  does  not  teach  ihem, 
as  light  is  necessary  to  enable  us  to  read,  although  it  nei- 
ther supplies  us  with  the  book,  nor  teaches  us  to  read.  We 
must  understand  in  some  degree  what  is  natural  to  man, 
in  order  that  we  may  know  what  is  supernatural. 

The  ideas,  knowledge,  faith  and  feelings,  produced  in 
the  mind  by  religious  objects,  partake  of  the  nature  and 
qualities  of  the  objects  which  excite  them.  They  operate 
upon  the  mind  as  (he  mind  perceives  them,  and  not  as  they 
are  in  thenjselves.  Hence  the  importance  and  the  neces- 
sity of  seeing  things  in  vheir  own  proper  nature,  sense 
and  character,  that  they  may  produce  their  proper  effects. 
We  must  apprehend  ihe  word  of  God,  as  it  is  in  truth  and 
indeed,  the  Ward  of  God,  and  not  the  word  of  man,  that 
it  may  work  effectually.  The  ideas  and  views,  the  faith, 
the  hope  and  the  love  produced  by  the  ivord  of  God  in  its 
own  proper  sense  and  meaning,  are  as  really  spiritual 
and  divine  as  they  would  be,  were  they  produced  by  the 
immediate  inspirations  and  revelations  of  the  Spirit. 

For  a  fvirther  illustration  and  proof  of  the  divine  origin, 
and  the  necessity  and  use  of  language  in  religion,  T  ob- 
serve, that  every  nation  has  words  peculiar  to  itsv  If,  just 
so  far  as  il  has  objects  ant!  things  peculiar  to  itself.  Na- 
tions, among  whom  particular  objects  are  wanting,  cannot 
invent  words  to  express  then,  nor  can  there  be  a  transla- 
tion of  the  words  borrowed  from  other  nations,  expressive 


ORIGIN    AND   USE   OF   LANGUAGE   IN    RELIGION.  69 

«t  unknown  objects  into  their  own  language.  All  that  can 
be  done,  is  to  transfer  the  words  themselves  into  their  lan- 
guage, and  leave  them  to  be  explained  in  the  Lexicons 
by  much  periphrasis  or  historical  description,  to  be  made 
by  those  who  know  the  objects. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  tropics,  for  example,  have  no  ice 
or  snow,  and  therefore,  words  which  are  the  signs  of  these 
things  in  our  country,  and  latitude,  could  not  have  been 
invented  by  tropical  inhabitants,  who  had  never  seen  or 
known  them;  and  if  ever  incorporated  into  their  language, 
must  be  transferred  without  a  translation.  The  Greeks 
and  Romans  had  no  cannon,  or  mariners'  compass,  elec- 
tricity, or  man  of  war;  and  therefore  words  which  are 
signs  of  these  things,  in  our  age,  could  not  have  been  in- 
vented by  them;  and  if  now  incorporated  into  their  lan- 
guage, they  must  be  transferred  without  a  translation.  All 
these  things  were  discovered  or  known  before  names 
were  given  to  them,  in  the  ages  and  countries  in  which 
they  were  named.  The  phenomena  of  nature,  and  the 
inventions  and  arts  of  men,  brought  forth  these  things  into 
sensible  manifestation,  and  they  exhibit  nothing  but  natu- 
ral existences,  consisting  of  natural  substances  and  pow- 
ers, and  natural  inventions.  But  this  is  not  the  case  with 
respect  to  God  or  spiritual  existences.  The  original  ideas 
of  these  were  not  obtained  from  natural  appearances,  nor 
were  the  words  which  are  expressive  of  them  suggested  by 
them.  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time;  the  only  be- 
gotten Son,  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  de- 
clared him. 

The  appearances  and  operations  of  nature  are  as  well 
understood  now  as  they  were  in  the  thousands  of  years 
that  are  passed.  Now  they  exhibit  nothing  but  natural 
existence.  They  indicate  the  original  creation  or  begin- 
ning of  nothing,  nor  do  they  .suo^gest  the  existence  or  ope- 


70  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF    LANGUAGE    IN    RELIGION, 

ration  of  any  thing  cr  being  that  exists  distinct  from  and 
independent  of  nature  and  its  powers.  Had  the  present 
state  of  things  always  existed,  without  immediate  miracu- 
lous operations  and  supernatural  revelations,  as  is  the 
case  now,  there  could  have  been  no  idea  or  knowledge  of 
God  or  of  spiritual  things,  or  words  to  express  them.  There 
could  have  been  no  Bible  —  no  vocabulary  of  spiritual 
things,  or  ideas,  thoughts  or  feelinjis  concerning  them,  such 
as  we  now  have.  There  were  then  periods  when  the  pres- 
ent state  of  things  did  not  exist.  When  supernatural  and 
miraculous  revelations  in  words  and  works  originated  and 
were  made,  by  which  the  knowledge  of  spiritual  things 
was  communicated  and  confirmed.  These  were  made  by 
God  himself.  In  these  originated  our  Bible,  which  is  the 
divinely  created  and  established  source  and  means  of  all 
true  religious  and  spiritual  perception  and  knowledge. 

It  is  roundly  asserted  by  some  deistical  philosophers, 
and  Natural  Religionist  Christians,  that  language  cannot 
impart  the  idea  or  knowledge  of  any  thing  to  the  mind, 
which  it  had  not  before  obtained  or  learnt  from  nature ;  and 
that  it  cannot  be  the  instrument  of  communicating  from 
one  mind  to  another  information,  thoughts  and  feelings  on 
objects  and  subjects,  which  were  not  previously  known  to 
the  mind  receiving  the  communication.  This  was  Locke's 
opinion.  If  this  be  true,  I  confess  that  revelation,  in  words 
and  sentences,  and  miraculous  works,  can  teach  us  noth- 
ing—  can  make  known  nothing  that  was  not  obtained  from 
nature.  The  following  case  proves  the  error  of  all  this, 
and  illustrates  the  supernatural  origin  and  present  use  of 
the  word  of  God  in  our  spiritual  knowledge  and  religious 
improvement,  exercises  and  enjoyments. 

Here  is  blind  Bartimeus,  who  has  never  seen  one  visi- 
ble object,  nor  has  one  ray  of  light  ever  entered  his  eye 
or  been  heard  of  by  him.     He  is  totally  destitute  of  all 


ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF    LANGUAGE    IN    RELIGION.  ll 

rhought  and  feeling  upon  the  subject  of  the  existence  of 
light  and  vision.  He  has  no  word  or  sign  to  express  either. 
Examine  him  carefully  and  you  will  find  this  to  be  the 
case.  The  reason  of  it  is  that  he  was  born  with  a  cata- 
ract which  rendered  him  totally  blind,  and  he  was  raised 
among  a  people  who  never  used  any  word  or  expression 
which  indicated  the  existence  of  light  or  vision. 

I  am  now  about  to  teach  him  by  ivords  and  actions,  the 
existence  of  light  and  of  visible  objects  which  he  could 
never  naturally  know,  as  they  are  to  his  situation  super- 
natural. He  is  well  acquainted  with  the  objects,  that 
impress  his  senses  of  touch,  of  smell  and  of  taste,  and  the 
sensations  produced  by  them,  and  the  language  which  he 
has  been  taught,  and  the  words  and  sentences,  which  he 
has  used  in  conversing  with  others,  have  been  strictly 
formed  and  limited  by  them.  These  form  the  bounding 
circle  within  which  his  perception,  memory,  imagination 
and  judgment  operate,  including  the  various  states  of  mind, 
which  its  own  action  upon  these  objects  and  their  opera- 
tions upon  it  produce. 

I  take  him  by  the  hand  and  say  to  him,  Bartimeus,  I 
am  about  to  teach  you  something  that  you  never  knew  or 
thought  of  before.  I  tell  him  that  there  are  such  things  as 
light  and  vision.  These  words  upon  his  first  hearing  them 
produce  no  definite  idea,  because  they  have  no  distinction 
in  the  sound.  My  design  is  to  communicate  to  him  as  far 
as  possible  the  sense  and  meaning  which  these  words  have 
in  my  own  mind.  This  I  can  do  only  by  words  and  ac- 
tions, which  can  in  neither  case  be  addressed  to  his  eyes, 
because  they  are  blind.  Light  and  vision  to  his  natural 
state  are  objects  of  faith,  and  can  only  be  made  known  to 
him  by  revelation.  I  describe  light  and  vision  to  him,  and 
associate  them  with  and  illustrate  them  by  words  and 
actions,  all  of  which  are  supernatural  to  his  situation. 


72  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF    LANGUAGE    IN    RELIGION. 

I  say  to  him,  Bartimeus,  we  are  now  standing  in  the 
light,  and  it  is  all  over  and  around  us.  By  its  influence 
upon  my  eyes,  I  see  and  can  lead  you  in  perfect  safety 
along  the  most  difficult,  intricate,  and  dangerous  w^ys. 
Light  enables  me  to  see  at  a  distance,  all  the  objects  that 
lie  in  our  way,  and  to  avoid  them.  I  lead  him  on  with 
rapid  steps,  and  inform  him  of  all  the  things  we  pass  be- 
fore we  arrive  at  them,  and  describe  their  nature  and  quali- 
ties; the  truth  of  which  he  tests  by  his  senses  of  touch, 
of  taste,  of  smell,  and  of  hearing,  as  we  pass  them.  In 
this  process  every  word  and  action  in  his  mind  is  associ- 
ated with  the  word  light,  and  clothes  it  with  the  appropri- 
ate qualifications  which  make  it  the  stipulated  sign  of  the 
thing  which  I  call  light.  I  inform  him  that  light  makes 
fruits  and  vegetables  grow,  which  supply  him  every  day 
and  hour  with  food,  as  they  do  many  other  animals.  He 
feels  and  tastes  the  fruits  and  vegetables.  I  describe  to 
him  the  power  of  light  in  enabling  me  to  read  books,  which 
were  written  by  its  influence,  and  which  treat  of  periods, 
events  and  things  at  a  great  distance  off*  in  time  and  place. 
The  truth  of  these  things  I  illustrate  and  confirm  in  vari- 
ous ways.  I  inform  him  that  all  mankind  are  enabled  to 
pursue  their  necessary  and  daily  business  by  the  influence 
of  light.  Of  this  he  is  also  assured  by  his  neighbours 
with  whom  he  holds  intercourse.  By  these  means  the 
word  light,  which  has  now  so  often  sounded  in  his  ears, 
and  been  associated  with  actions  and  things,  which  could 
not  have  been  performed  or  have  been  known  without  it. 
becomes  fixed  in  his  mind  as  the  sign  of  the  thing  or  sub- 
stance which  it  stands  for. 

Bartimeus  cherishes  the  remembrance  of  the  wortl 
light,  with  all  its  qualities  which  have  been  associated  with 
it  by  verbal  descriptions,  actions  and  feelings.  He  talks 
about  them  as  I  talked  to  him,  and  he  thinks  and  feels  about 


ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF   LANGUAGE    IN   RELIGION.  73 

them.  He  believes  in  the  existence  of  light  though  he  has 
never  seen  it.  He  believes  by  revelation  and  testimony 
which  to  his  state  are  altogether  supernatural.  They  are 
however,  not  more  supernatural,  nor  as  much  so  as  the 
means  are  supernatural  to  our  state,  by  which  we  know 
and  believe  in  God,  and  in  the  fact  of  creation. 

In  addition  to  what  1  have  already  taught  Barlimeus,  by 
which  I  have  produced  faith  in  him,  which  "is  the  evidence 
or  demonstration  of  things  that  he  has  not  seen,"  I  inform 
him  thai  I  can  perform  an  operation  upon  his  eyes  bv 
couching  them,  by  which  I  will  enable  him  to  see  and  walk, 
and  feel,  and  read,  and  enjoy  light  and  vision  as  I  do. 
This  excites  in  him  netc  ideas  and  feelings,  and  by  believ- 
ing it,  he  has  hope.  His  "  faith  is  (now)  the  substance  of 
things  hoped  for"  and  also  "the  evidence  of  things  not 
seen."  In  order  that  I  may  operate  successfully,  I  tell  him 
that  he  must  submit  to  some  privations  and  pains  —  that 
he  must  take  medicine,  and  be  bled,  and  perhaps  blistered, 
and  live  abstemiously.  His  faith  and  hope  enable  him 
to  overcome  every  natural  indisposition  to  follow  my  di- 
rections, and  to  submit  implicitly  to  them,  which  he  could 
not  possibly  have  done,  without  the  information  and  mo- 
tives which  I  have  furnished  him  with.  By  faith  he  hag 
obtained  power  to  do  these  things. 

Now  examine  Bartimeus,  and  say  whether  or  not  he  has 
received  any  information,  or  any  ideas,  perceptions,  views 
or  feelings,  from  my  instructions  that  he  had  not  before? 
He  will  tell  you  he  has.  He  manifests  actual  states  of 
mind  in  words  and  actions,  of  which  he  is  conscious, 
which  he  knew  nothing  of  previously.  He  has  a  new  vo- 
cabulary, as  he  has  a  new  class  of  objects  and  feelings. 
His  vocabulary  includes  nouns,  and  verbs,  and  adjectives, 
which  he  never  thought  of,  knew,  or  felt,  or  used  before. 
The  new  views,,  information,  faith,  hope,  affection*  and. 
7  * 


74  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF   LANGUAGE   IN    RELIGION. 

oondiict  which  he  now  possesses,  were  produced  by  words 
and  sentences,  and  works,  which  I  employed  to  instruct 
him. 

To  have  proposed  to  Bartimeus  to  deny  himself  various 
articles  of  food  that  he  loved,  and  to  submit  to  take  medi- 
cine, to  be  bled  and  blistered,  and  to  have  his  eyes  pierc- 
ed with  a  sharp  instrument  in  couching  them,  without  the 
information  that  I  imparted  to  him,  would  have  excited  his 
most  decided  opposition,  hostility  and  rage. 

Suppose  Bartimeus,  before  being  couched^  should  desire 
to  teach  other  blind  men  what  he  has  learnt  and  now 
knows,  and  to  impart  to  them  the  same  views^and  feelings^ 
that  he  has^  and  to  induce  them  to  prepare  for  the  opera- 
tion of  couching  that  they  also  may  see,  what  must  he,  or 
what  can  he  do?  He  must  speak  to  them  as  I  spoke  to 
him;  he  must  use  the  word  light  as  I  used  it,  and  describe 
it  as  I  described  it.  He  must  represent  its  operations  upon 
me  in  enabling  me  to  see,  and  through  me  upon  himself, 
as  I  manifested  them  to  him,  and  as  its  influences  were 
excited  upon  him.  He  must  tell  of  my  leading  him  about 
by  its  influences,  and  of  my  seeing  objects  at  a  distance, 
and  the  proof  that  I  gave  him  of  it  by  telling  him  of  it,  and 
of  my  leading  him  to  them,  and  of  his  touching  them.  He 
must  impress  by  verbal  description  and  action  the  word 
light  upon  their  minds,  and  tie  io  it,,  or  associate  with  it, 
all  the  properties  of  light  that  he  has  learnt,  and  thereby 
fix  that  word  in  their  minds  as  the  sign  of  the  thing  called 
light.  And  thus  by  the  nouns,  and  verbs,  and  adjectives, 
answering  to  the  objects  or  things,  actions  and  qualities 
which  I  used  and  manifested  to  him,  he  will  transfer  to  or 
excite  in  other  blind  men's  minds  the  same  ideas  and 
views,  desires,  and  states  of  mind,  which  he  derived  frona 
me.  And  by  the  faith  and  hope  which  Bartimeus  has  thus 
produced,  and  the  desires  h^e  has  excited  in  their  minds, 


ORIGIN    AND   USE    OF   LANGUAGE    IN    RELIGION.  79 

which  are  anaiogous  to  his  own,  ihey  will  pursue  the  same 
course  of  conduct  in  preparing  themselves  to  be  success^ 
fully  couched,  that  they  may  see.  They  possess  the  same 
views  and  feelings,  and  are  influenced  by  the  same  mo- 
tives that  he  is,  because  they  are  produced  by  the  sam© 
means,  which  operate  upon  minds  possessing  the  same 
faculties  and  susceptibilities  with  his  own. 

Should  these  blind  men  desire  to  instruct  other  blind  men 
as  they  have  been  instructed,  and  with  the  same  objects 
in  view,  they  must  use  the  same  words  and  actions  that 
Bartimeus  used  with  them,  and  which  I  used  with  him. 
The  same  means  of  instruction  would,  if  used  in  the  same 
way,  produce  the  same  effects  through  a  thousand  gene- 
rations. But  a  change  of  words  and  sentences,  and  of  ac- 
tions, would  produce  correspondent  different  effects,  and 
prevent  or  but  partially  produce  the  states  of  mind  de- 
signed. 

These  supposed  cases  illustrate  my  view  of  the  super- 
natural origin  of  language,  and  of  its  use  in  religion  to 
the  fallen  state  of  man,  in  transmitting  from  mind  to  mind 
and  from  age  to  age  spiritual  knowledge.  The  mind  of 
man  is  naturally  as  destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  God  and 
of  spiritual  things  without  revelation,  as  the  mind  of  Bar- 
timeus was  of  the  existence  of  light  and  of  visible  objects 
without  instruction.  The  word  of  God  and  the  miracu- 
lous works  which  were  associated  with  it  when  it  was  first 
revealed^  and  which  are  recorded,  are  as  necessary  now 
to  produce  religious  or  spiritual  ideas,  faith,  hope  and  feel- 
ing, and  religious  conduct,  as  words  and  actions  are  to 
impart  to  men's  minds  who  were  born  blind,  the  know- 
ledge of  the  existence  of  light,  and  the  other  effects  which 
I  have  described. 

What  I  have  said  indicates  the  necessity  of  preserving 
the  word  of  God  pure  as  the  author  gave  it,  and  of  its  be- 


76  ORIGIN    ANl>   USE    OF   LANGUAGE   IN    RELIGION  i 

ing  taught  and  learnt,  and  used  in  its  own  nouns,  verbs, 
and  adjectives,  and  other  pans  of  speech,  that  the  same 
ideas  and  perceptions,  the  same  sentiments  and  feeangs, 
the  same  failh,  hope  and  conduct  may  be  produced  in  all, 
which  God  designed  should  be. 

For  a  further  illustration  of  my  views  of  the  origin  and 
use  of  language  in  religion,  I  might  refer  to  the  case  of 
persons  who  were  born  deaf  and  dumb,  and  who  in  the 
asylums  have  been  taught  to  read  and  understand  the 
Scriptures.  In  every  case,  these  unfortunate  mutes  had 
no  idea  or  knowledge  of  God  or  of  spiritual  beings  as  ex- 
isting distinct  from  and  independent  of  natural  ones,  or  of 
the  creation  of  any  thing  from  nothing,  until  they  were 
taught  them  by  words  and  actions;  none  had  any  idea  of 
God  until  it  was  communicated  by  instruction.  The  case 
published  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
Paris,  of  a  tradesman  in  Chartres,  whose  son  was  born 
deaf,  and  when  he  was  twenty-thiee  years  old  obtained 
his  hearing,  is  full  of  conclusive  information  and  evidence 
upon  this  subject.  That  case  was  published  in  *Hhe  Philos- 
ophy of  the  human  mind  in  respect  to  religion,"  in  1813, 
p.  56-7.  After  the  young  man  obtained  his  hearings 
which  was  done  without  his  knowing  how,  by  a  change 
taking  place  in  his  ears;  and  after  learning  to  speak,  he 
said,  upon  his  being  interrogated  by  several  Catholic 
Priests,  that  concerning  God,  and  the  soul,  moral  good  and 
evily  although  he  had  been  raised  by  religious  parents, 
and  had  been  used  to  go  to  mass,  and  had  been  instructed 
in  all  the  externals  of  devotion,  he  knew  nothing  and  had 
thought  nothing.  So  true  is  it,  that  w«>rds  are  the  instru- 
ments of  our  thoughts  in  spiritual  and  divine  things,  as 
they  are  the  means  of  our  ideas  and  knowledge. 

The  difference  between  ;.he  state  of  blind  Bartimeus  in 
regard  to  light  and  vision,  and  the  state  of  mankind  in  re 


ORIGIN    AND    WSE    OF    LANGUAGE    IN    RELIGION.  77 

gard  to  spiritual  and  divine  things,  is  in  some  respects  very 
great,  but  in  others  very  small.  Although  it  be  true,  that 
God  is,  and  that  it  is  in  him  we  live,  move  and  have  our 
being  yet  without  revelation  we  are  as  ignorant  of  these 
things,  as  was  Bartimeus  of  the  existence  and  operations 
of  light  before  he  was  instructed.  God  created  us  and 
preserves  us,  and  is  a  living,  intelligent,  holy,  righteous, 
merciful,  and  perfect  being,  without  whose  presence  and 
power  we  cannot  live  for  one  moment.  All  these  things 
are  objects  and  matters  o^  faith,  and  are  manifested  to  us 
through  the  atonement  and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ  by 
revelation;  without  which,  we  should  not  know  them,  or 
have  one  thought  or  feeling  concerning  them. 

The  use  of  God's  worri,  and  of  the  ordinances  of  the 
Gospel  in  religious  instruction  and  worship,  and  devotional 
exercises,  is  to  enlighten  and  imbue  our  minds  more  and 
more  with  the  knowledge  and  sense  of  divine  things,  and 
to  increase  and  strengthen  our  faith  and  hope,  and  love, 
and  spiritual-mindedness.  These  are  done  by  reading 
and  understanding  the  word  of  God's  grace,  and  by  pray- 
erful meditation,  by  singing  God's  praise,  and  by  religious 
conversation  and  social  worship,  and  by  good  works  in 
deeds  of  Christian  charity.  In  all  this,  Jesus  Christ  in  his 
mediatorial  character,  who  is  Immanuel,  God  with  us,  and 
is  our  prophet,  priest  and  king,  is  Alpha  and  Omega,  our 
wisdom  and  righteousness,  and  sanctifi-^ation  and  redemp- 
tion; without  whom  we  can  do  nothing,  either  in  the 
knowledge  or  the  enjoyment  of  divine  things,  as  he  is  the 
light  of  the  world,  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life,  the  au- 
thor and  the  finisher  of  our  faith.  Through  his  blood,  by 
faith  in  his  blood,  God  purifies  our  hearts  or  justifies  us. 
Through  faith  in  him  the  spirit  operates  upon  the  heart  in 
sanctifying  it.  All  ^he  doctrines,  ordinances  and  duties  of 
the  Gospel  are  designed  for  the  same  purpose,  and  when 


-78  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF   LANGUAGE    IN    RELIGION. 

truly  believed,  cherished  and  practised,  produce  and  in- 
crease spiritual-mindedness.  There  are  but  few  original 
spiritual  ideas  produced  by  revelation,  perhaps  not  more 
than  the  following:  the  existence  of  Jehovah,  in  whom 
is  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  existence  of  other 
spiritual  beings;  the  creation  of  the  world ;  the  image  of  God 
in  which  man  was  made;  his  fall  and  redemption  through 
the  vicarious  death  and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ;  gra- 
tuitous justification;  the  separate  existence  of  the  soul  at 
death  from  the  body,  the  resurrection  of  the  body  and  their 
re-union ;  a  future  judgment ;  the  destruction  of  this  world 
by  fire;  the  existence  of  heaven  and  hell;  the  eternal  hap- 
piness of  the  righteous,  and  everlasting  punishment  of  the 
wicked. 

I  will  in  my  next  Essay  give  the  views  of  a  number  of 
philologists  of  the  divine  origin  of  language,  which 
strengthen  the  views  which  the  previous  investigations 
have  established. 


ESSAY  IV. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  USE  OF  LANGUAGE. 


The  origin  and  the  use  of  language,  agreeably  to  Parkhurst,  Dr.  Johnson, 
Dwight,  Prof'r.  Brown,  and  Dr.  Webster  —  Tlie  traditioiary  means 
by  which  the  knowledge  of  God  and  religion  have  been  hand-  d  down 
from  one  generation  to  another  —  The  chronological  connection  be- 
tween Adara  and  Isaac. 

Language  was  a  co-eval  endowment,  bestowed  upon 
our  first  parents  by  their  munificent  Creator  the  moment 
that  gave  them  existence,  as  was  the  knowledge  of  spirit- 
ual and  divine  things,  to  the  extent  it  was  proper  fhat  they, 
as  the  moral  subjects  of  God's  government,  should  know 
them.  On  this  subject,  Parkhurst,  the  author  of  the  He- 
brew and  Greek  Lexicons,  observes,  "  it  is  evident  from 
the  Mosaical  account  of  the  original  formation  of  man, 
that  language  was  the  immediate  gift  of  God  to  Adam,  or 
that  God  himself,  either  taught  our  first  parents  to  speak,  or, 
which  is  the  same  thing,  inspired  them  with  language.  It 
appears  from  Gen.  ii,  19,  20,  to  be  evident  that  Adam  must 
in  general  have  had  ideas  of  actions  and  words  suited  to  ex- 
press those  ideas,  which  words  were  no  doubt  taught  him  im- 
mediately by  God;  or  in  short  that  he  must  have  language 
before  he  could  give  the  animals  proper  and  descriptive 
names.  I  cannot  forbear  adding  on  this  occasion,  that 
whatever  fantastical  notions  some  men  may  advance  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  language,  and  the  possibility  of 
man's  gradually  inventing  it  by  his  own  natural,  unassisted 


89  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF   LANGUAGE. 

powers,  yet  in  fact  not  a  single  instance  can  be  produced 
since  the  creation  of  the  world  of  any  human  creature 
ever  using  articulate  sounds  as  the  signs  of  ideas,  or  in 
other  words,  of  his  speaking  or  having  language,  unless  he 
was  first  taught  it  eirher  immediately,  and  at  once  by  God, 
as  Adam  was  at  his  first  formation,  and  the  Apostles  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost  were,  or  gradually  by  parents  and 
nurses." 

The  endowments  of  Adam  were  a  part  of  the  first  or 
old  creation,  and  constituted  in  part  the  image  and  like- 
ness of  God  in  which  he  was  made;  and  those  of  the  Apos- 
tles were  a  part  of  the  new  creation.  Both  were  bestow- 
ed by  God,  the  Logos  or  Word ;  the  former  in  his  original, 
the  latter  in  his  mediatorial  character. 

Dr.  T.  Dwight  says,  that  "  God  endowed  man  immedi- 
ately with  the  power  of  speech  and  the  knowledge  of  lan- 
guage to  an  extensive  degree.  It  is  proved  among  other 
thino-s  by  the  fact  that  our  first  parents  were  made  social 
beings^  and  were  made  helps  meet  for  each  other.  With- 
out speech  we  cannot  conceive  a  social  state  to  exist,  nor 
imagine  the  mutual  assistance  aimed  at  in  the  creation  of 
the  first  pair  to  be  in  any  possible  manner  accomplished. 
Without  speech,  millions  crowded  together  would,  for  this 
very  reason,  find  themselves  in  a  more  perfect  solitude. 
Without  speech  mutually  understood,  mankind  even  now 
are  strangers  and  aliens  to  each  other;  and  are  not  only 
unable  to  render  to  each  other  any  mutual  assistance,  but 
are  ever  ready  mutually  to  suspect,  hate,  and  separate. 
Confidence  is  never  reposed,  friendship  never  springs  up 
where  language  is  not  understood,  and  where  communica- 
tions are  not  intelligibly  and  definitely  made. 

"  That  language  was  revealed,  is  a  fact  that  cannot 
have  been  otherwise.  Without  language,  society  could 
not  have  been  formed.     God  also  revealed  to  man,  in  di- 


ORIGIN    AND   USE   OF   LANGUAGE.  SI 

i-eet  and  definite  terms  his  whole  duty,  and  disclosed  t© 
him  the  law  by  which  his  life  was  to  be  governed." 

Dr.  Johnson  says,  "Language  must  have  been  by 
inspiration.  Inspiration  was  necessary  to  give  man 
the  knowledge  of  the  faculty  of  speech,  to  inform  him 
that  he  may  speak,  which  I  think  he  could  no  more  find 
out  without  inspiration,  than  cows  or  hogs  would  think 
of  such  a  faculty."' 

Brown,  in  his  Lectures  on  Mental  Philosophy,  says,^'  to 
be  without  language  written  or  spoken,  is  almost  to  be 
without  thought. 

"  The  noblest  of  all  the  benefits  which  language  con- 
fers, is  that  permanent  transmission  of  thought,  which 
gives  to  each  individual,  the  power  and  wisdom  of  his 
species;  —  by  it  the  boundaries  of  time  seem  to  be  at 
once  removed.  Nothing  is  past,  for  every  thing  seems  to 
live  before  us.  T  \e  thoughts  of  beings  who  have  trod 
the  most  distant  soil,  and  the  most  distant  periods,  arise 
again  in  our  mind  wi;h  the  same  warmth  and  freshness, 
as  when  they  fii*st  awoke  m  the  bosom  of  their  author. 
That  system  of  perpetual  transmigration,  which  was  but 
a  fable  as  believed  by  Pythagoras,  becomes  reality  when 
it  is  applied  not  to  the  soul  itself,  but  ^o  its  ideas,  thoughts 
and  feelings,  through  the  intervention  and  instrumentali- 
ty of  language. 

^'  There  is  beyond  all  doubt,  a  chain  of  thoughts  of  hu- 
man kind,  from  the  origin  of  the  world  down  to  the  mo- 
ment in  which  we  exist — ^a  chain  n-)t  less  universal  than 
that  of  the  generation  of  every  thing  that  lives.  We  are 
in  possession  of  opinions,  which  perhaps  regulate  our  life 
in  its  most  important  cfmcerns,  with  respect  to  which,  we 
are  as  ignorant  of  the  original  author,  by  whom  they  have 
been  literally  and  imperceptibly  transmitted  to  us  from 
mind  to  mind,  as  wc  are  ignorant  of  those  ancestors  on 
8 


S2  ©RIOIN    AND    USE    OF   LANGUAOfE. 

whose  existence,  in  the  thousands  of  years  which  preced- 
ed our  entrance  into  the  world,  our  life  itseif  had  depend- 
ed, and  without  whom,  therefore,  we  should  not  have  been. 

"Such  are  the  benefits  which  result  from  language,  the 
happiest  of  all  inventions  —  if  indeed  it  be  an  invention 
of  man,  and  not  rather  as  many  have  thought,  a  co-eval 
poicer  bestowed  on  him  by  his  provident  Creator,  at  the 
moment  that  gave  him  life. " 

Dr.  Webster  says  that  "Adam  was  not  only  endowed  with 
intellect  for  understanding  his  Maker,  or  the  signification 
of  words,  but  was  furnished  both  with  the  faculty  of  speech, 
and  with  speech  itself;  or  the  knowledge  and  use  of  words 
as  signs  of  ideas;  and  this  before  the  formation  of  the 
woman.  Hence  we  may  infer  that  language  was  bestow- 
ed on  Adam,  in  the  same  manner  as  all  his  other  faculties 
and  knowledge,  by  supernatural  power;  or  in  other  words 
was  of  supernatural  origin." 

The  observations  of  these  distinguished  men,  apply 
with  peculiar  force  to  the  origin  and  use  of  language,  in 
regard  to  spiritual  and  divine  subjects.  In  the  first  crea- 
tion of  man,  the  knowledge  and  use  of  language,  on  natu- 
ral and  divine  subjects,  and  the  knowledge  of  natural  and 
divine  things,  were  co-eval .  After  the  fall  of  man  these 
co-eval  endowments  ceased,  and  the  communications  of 
God  were  made  to  him  by  external  revelation,  in  words 
and  sentences,  suited  to  his  fallen,  guilty  condition,  and  in 
reference  to  his  redemption  by  Christ  Jesus.  They  were 
enlarged  at  different  periods  by  new  revelations,  under 
the  Patriarchal  and  Mosaical  dispensations,  and  were  per- 
fected by  Jesus  Christ,  the  incarnate  Word,  in  the  Gospel. 
That  external  revelation  by  language,  after  the  fall  repeat- 
edly made,  has  been  the  means  of  spiritual  knowledge, 
and  the  instrument  by  which  the  knowledge  of  God  and 
spiritual  things  has  been  transmitted  from  mind  to  mind. 


ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF   LANGUAGE.  83 

and  from  age  to  age,  and  from  nation  to  nation,  and  is  now 
the  instriimeot,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  no  period  has 
existed  since  the  fall  of  man,  at  which  this  chain  of  spir- 
itual and  divine  knowledge  being  broken,  and  the  intelli- 
gence communicated  by  it  bemg  forgotten  or  lost,  and  . 
new  revelation  withheld  or  denied,  that  the  human  mind 
could,  by  any  effort  employed  upon  nature  or  itself  alone, 
supply  its  use,  or  receive  the  ideas  or  information  which 
it  conveys,  or  could  "  rise  through  nature  up  to  nature's 
God." 

The  language  of  God  in  his  Word,  is  now  as  well  the 
instrument  of  thought  and  feeling  upon  spiritual  and  di- 
vine subjects,  as  it  is  of  speech.  It  is  the  only  means 
which  enables  the  mind  to  transcend  the  boundaries  of 
time  and  sense,  in  thought  and  feeling,  by  carrying  it  back- 
wards and  forwards  into  eternity.  By  it  we  are  made 
spectators  of  the  birth  of  the  Universe,  and  live  through 
every  age  of  time,^  and  witness  its  close  in  the  funeral  of 
nature.  The  word  of  God's  grace  brings  into  the  present 
states  of  mind,  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  a  sense  of 
pardoned  sin  and  of  divine  favor,  and  enables  us  to  hold 
fellowship  with  God,  and  to  enjoy  eternal  things. 

We  are  informed  by  the  scriptures,  that  religion,  or  the 
knowledge  of  God,  and  the  knowledge  and  use  of  lan- 
guage in  our  world  began  with  Adam  in  paradise,  and 
that  they  were  co-eval  endowments.  After  he  fell,  and 
by  the  fall  he  lost  these  co-eval  endowments,  which  of 
course  did  not  descend  to  his  posterity.  In  his  fallen  state 
he  begat  children  after  his  own  likeness.  These  by  wis- 
dom did  not  know  God.  The  change  which  sin  produced 
in  the  state  of  man,  and  in  the  relation  he  sustained  to 
God,  changed  the  order  and  system  of  religion  which  exist- 
ed Lefore.  And  the  spiritual  knowledge  and  feeling  which 
were  co-eval  and  natural  to  man's  primitive  state  of  purity 


84  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF   LANGUAGE. 

and  innocence,  became  supernatural  to  \\\&  fallen  state,  in 
that  state,  religion  has  ever  since  been  imparted  to  him  by 
grace,  through  external  revelation,  and  has  always  had  ref- 
erence to  the  atonement  or  expiatory  death  of  Jesuft  Christ. 

God  spoke  often,  in  various  ways,  to  sundry  persons, 
which  began  immediately  after  the  fall,  partly  for  their 
own  instruction  and  guidance  in  the  knowledge  of  him- 
self and  will,  and  partly  for  others.  So  he  spoke  to  Ad- 
am immediately  after  the  fall,  and  to  Abel,  who  by  faith, 
that  is,  by  obedience  to  the  revealed  will  and  command  of 
God,  offered  an  acceptable  sacrifice,  and  by  which,  he  be- 
ing dead,  yet  speakelh.  He  spoke  also  unfo  Enoch,  who 
was  enabled  thereby  to  walk  with  God,  and  to  prophecy, 
and  to  warn  and  instruct  others.  God  spoke  also  to  No- 
ah, who  was  faithful  to  what  he  was  taught,  and  was  con- 
stituted the  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith, 
and  was  made  a  preacher  of  righteousness.  He  being 
warned  of  God,  by  revelation,  of  a  flood  and  other  things 
not  seen  as  yet,  which  existed  in  the  divine  mind  and  pur- 
pose, and  which  were  altogether  supernatural,  moved 
with  fear  prepared  the  ark.  God  also  spoke  to  Abraham, 
to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob. 

Every  age  and  season  had,  by  divine  revelation,  light 
enough  to  guide  them  in  the  whole  obedience  required  of 
them,  had  they  been  faithful  to  what  was  given  to  them. 
The  anfe-diluvians  did  not  perish  for  the  want  of  sufficient 
revelation,  but,  as  Faber,  in  his  work  on  the  three  dispen- 
sations has  proven,  because  they  rejected  altogether  the 
doctrine  of  Redemption.  And  no  other  nation  has  died 
since  the  flood,  for  the  want  of  sufficient  revelation,  but 
because  of  the  corruption  of  the  doctrine  of  redemption,, 
for  the  rejection  of  which  the  antc-diluvians  perished. 

It  is  true,  ihat  when  we  consider,  in  the  light  that  we 
have,  those  divine   instructions  which  are  upon  record^ 


OUIGIN    AKD    USE   OF  LANGUAGE.  85 

which  God  gran-ed  to  those  who  lived  at  early  periods  of 
the  world,  we  are  scarcely  abl^  to  discern  how  they  could 
siitiicienH.y  know  all  ihat  was  necessary  for  them  to  be- 
lieve and  do.  They  were  to  rhem  "as  a  light  shining  in 
a  dark  place."  Setup  a  candle  in  a  dark  room,  and  it 
will  sufficientlyeniighten  it  for  men  to  attend  to  their  bu- 
siness in  it.  Bur  when  the  sun  rises  and  shines  in  at  the 
windows,  the  light  of  the  candle  grows  so  dim  and  useless 
that  it  seems  strange  that  it  could  have  been  of  any  use. 
The  Sun  of  righteousness  is  now  risen  upon  us,  and  the 
light  of  the  candle  has  disappeared.  The  light  of  :he 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  shines  upon  us  thr,>ugh 
the  Gospel,  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  way  int© 
the  holiest  of  all  is  made  manifest. 

If  we  look  on  the  revelations  granted  to  those  who  liv- 
ed before  the  Gospel  times,  we  see  there  was  ligh'  in 
them,  which,  however,  yields  us  as  little  as  a  candle  does, 
set  in  fhe  sun-shine.  But  to  them  who  lived  before  Christ 
came,  they  were  a  sufficient  guide  to  all  the  duties  of  faith 
and  conduct  required  of  them. 

There  was,  during  this  season,  a  sufficient  ministry  for 
the  declaration  of  the  revelations  which  God  made  of 
himself  and  will.  There  was  the  natural  ministry  of 
parents,  who  were  obliged  to  instruct  their  children  and 
families  in  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  the  truth  iliey 
had  received.  This  began  with  Adam,  who  first  received 
the  promise  of  Messiah,  the  seed  of  the  woman.  He  in-. 
structed  his  sons  and  daughters.  They  learnt  from  him 
the  state  in  which  he  was  made  and  from  which  he  tell, 
and  what  he  lost  by  the  fall.  He  taught  them  the  divine 
institution  of  worship,  which  was  suited  to  his  fallen  sm- 
ful  state;  and  of  sacrifice,  which  pointed  to  the  atonement 
of  Jesus  Chris:  —  the  bruising  of  the  seed  of  the  n'oman. 
He  contin  ;ed  to  instruct  them  nine  hundred  and  thirtv 
8* 


86  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF   LANGUAGE. 

years,  during  which  time  he  doubtles<^  received  many  ne'wr 
revelations.  The  knowledge  of  these  things  could  not 
be  lost  without  the  wilful  neglect  of  parents  in  teaching 
their  children  and  families,  or  in  their  neglect  in  learning 
them.  There  was  abo  the  Sabbath,  which  was  a  memo- 
rial of  the  Creation  of  all  things,  and  was  made  a  sign 
between  God  and  man,  by  God's  own  appointment,  to  pre- 
serve the  world  from  idolatry  and  from  Atheism.  They 
had,  moreover,  the  ministry  of  such  persons  as  God  in- 
trusted, from  time  to  time,  with  new  revelations,  for  the 
<x>nfirmation  and  enlargement  of  those  before  given,  who 
were  all  of  them  preachers  of  righteousness  unto  the  rest 
of  mankind. 

From  the  giving  of  the  first  promise,  when  external  di- 
vine revelation  began  to  be  the  means  of  spiritual  instruc- 
tion, or  the  means  of  faith  and  the  directory  of  life,  to  the 
writing  of  the  law  of  Moses^  which  was  about  twenty- 
four  hundred  and  sixty  years,  there  were  always  alive, 
one  and  another,  who,  receiving  divine  revelations  imme- 
diately from  God,  were  a  kind  of  infallible  guides  to  all 
others.  If  it  was  otherwise  at  any  time,  it  was  after  the 
death  of  the  patriarch?,  and  before  the  call  of  Moses,  du- 
ring which  time  all  things  went  into  darkness  and  confu- 
sion. The  righteousness  of  God,  suited  to  their  state,  had 
been  revealed  to  them  by  inspired  men,  but  they  held  the 
truth  in  unrighteousness.  Paul  says,  "  that  which  might  be 
known  of  God  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  he  showed 
unto  them,  but  they  glorified  him  not  as  God  when  they 
knew  him,  neither  were  thankful,  but  became  vain  in  their 
imaginations,  and  their  foolish  hearts  were  darkened- 
Professing  themselves  to  be  wise  without  the  revelations 
of  God,  they  became  fools,  and  changed  the  glory  of  the 
incorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible 
wan,  and  to  birds,  and  four-footed  beasts,  and  creeping 


ORIGIN    AND    USE   OF   LANGUAGE.  87 

things.  And  as  they  did  no^  like  to  retain  God  in  their 
knowledge,  God  gave  them  over  to  a  reprobate  or  iindis- 
cerning  mind.''  Such  seems  to  have  been  the  orii^in  of 
idolatry  in  the  patriarchal  state,  as  it  was  afterwards 
amon^  the  Jewish  nation. 

Oral  tradition  alone  could  not  preserve  the  truth  of  rev- 
elation pure,  especially  when  men's  lives  were  so  much 
shortened  as  they  were  after  the  flood. 

Tu  alter  or  corrupt  the  language  in  which  religion  wag 
revealed,  would  be  to  corrupt  the  people.  Hence,  when 
God  formed  the  Old  Covenant,  and  organized  the  Jewish 
nation  upon  it  into  a  church  or  congregation,  under  a  The- 
ocracy, or  a  government  which  God  himself  administered, 
he  wrote  that  Covenant  upon  two  tables  of  stone,  which 
was  perhaps,  the  first  written  document  that  man  ever 
saw;  and  hence  it  is  called  the  Covenant  of  the  letter,  by 
Paul.     2  Cor.  iii,  6,  in  allusion  to  Exodus  xxxiv,  28. 

The  following  chronological  statement  indicates  the 
connection  and  the  order  of  communication  that  existed 
from  Adam  to  Isaac,  and  plainly  shows  how  easily  reli- 
gious knowledge,  by  tradition.,  might  be  communicated  from 
one  to  another,  and  how  the  nations  of  the  earth  obtained 
their  religious  information. 

Adam  was  co-temporary  with  Lamech  56  years,  with 
Methuselah  243  years,  and  wi;h  Jared  470  years.  N  >ah 
was  co-temporary  with  Lamech  595  years,  with  Me  huse- 
lah  600  years,  and  with  Jared  336  3'ears.  These  lived 
before  the  flood.  And  Shem,  Ham  and  Japheth,  the  three 
sons  of  Noah,  were  one  hundred  years  old  when  the  flood 
came.  Thev  were  co-temporaries  with  Lamech  95  years, 
and  with  Methuselah  98  years,  before  the  floor!,  and  lived 
with  their  father  Noah  before  the  flood  100  }ear?.  And 
Shem  lived  with  him  after  the  fl/od  350  years.  He  lived 
also  with  Abraham  150  years,  and  with  Isaac  50  years. 


86  ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF    LANGUAGE. 

1  he  first  chap  or  iS  Paul's  Epistle  to  ih-i  R  ♦mans,  shows 
how  idoialrv  was  iniroduced  into  the  vvarid  arn  -iig  the 
Gentiles,  and  from  which  I  have  made  quotadons.  Mo- 
ses guards  the  Jewish  nation  against  the  same  tendency, 
arising  from  the  same  causes,  in  Deut.  iv,  and  which  sev- 
eral times  led  them  into  idolatry.  These  historical  facts 
show  the  tendency  of  the  human  mind  to  corrupt  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  after  it  has  been  communicated  or  made 
know  by  revelation,  which  all  history  corroborates.  But 
there  is  no  instance  in  the  world  of  any  nation  or  individ- 
ual arriving  at  the  knowledge  of  divine  truth  by  its  own 
discoveries,  or  of  regaining  it  after  it  was  lost,  but  by  a 
new  revelation.  In  accor^^ance  with  the  truth  of  rhis 
statement,  i^he  nearer  we  approach  to  Noah,  the  nearer 
we  universally  come  to  the  true  and^erfect  character 
and  \m'>erplexed  worship  of  Jehovah j-*^ and  the  further  we 
recede  from  this  patriarch,  (he  deeper  we  find  ouriselves 
sinkino-  into  the  abyss  of  idolatry.  WhercMS,  were  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  religion  inferable  from  narure, 
this  process  would  of  course  be  inverted.  For  as  man 
became  more  enlightened  by  science,  the  world  would 
know  God  better.  The  fact  however,  has  been  unif  >rmly 
contrary  to  this.  As  tradition  has  declined,  the  knowledge 
of  God  has  declined  with  it;  as  tradition  has  been  corrupt- 
ed, the  knowledge  of  God  has  been  corrupted ;  when  it 
has  been  lost,  the  knowledge  oi'  God  has  been  lost.  The 
same  is  true  in  respect  to  the  written  word  of  God  under 
the  '>ld  and  new  dispensations.  As  the  word  has  l)oen  cor- 
rupted or  neglected,  so  has  religion  been .  When  Christ 
came  into  the  world,  the  Jewish  n.-tion  had  made  the 
word  of  God  of  none  effect  by  their  traditions  and  com- 
mand'.nents,  and  the  G(;ntiies  were  wholly  given  to  idola- 
try and  to  Atheism.  And  no  nation  or  individ\ial  has 
ever  been   extricated  from   idolatry   or   Atheism,  &incc 


ORIGIN    AND    USE    OF    LANGUAGE.  89 

Christ  came  into  the  world,  but  by  the  Gospel ;  or  been  civ- 
ilized, but  by  the  same  means.  This  is  the  perfect  law  of 
liberty,  whose  light  and  moral  influence  alone  can  quali- 
fy a  nation  for  a  free  government. 


KSSAY    V 


THE     NEW     COVENANT. 


The  New  Covenant,  or  Gospel  constitution  of  religion, 
signifies  that  divine  settlement  or  establishment  of  things, 
wherein  God,  by  means  of  the  atonement  and  mediation 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  word  of  the  gospel,  communicates 
his  grace ,  mercy  and  truth  to  mankind ;  gives  to  them  re- 
mission of  sins  and  repentance  through  faith,  reconciles 
them,  and  takes  them  into  a  friendly  relation  to  himself, 
and  puts  his  laws  into  their  minds  and  writes  them  on 
their  hearts;  stipulates  blessings  and  privileges  to  them, 
and  gives  them  his  laws  and  ordinances  as  the  rules 
of  their  obedience  and  correspondence  with  Him,  and  of 
their  union  and  fellowship  with  each  other  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  New  Covenant,  or  Gospel  dispensation,  is  that, 
according  to  the  rich  provisions  of  which,  the  heathen 
is  given  to  Jesus  Christ  for  his  inheritance,  and  the  ut- 
termost parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession.  Under  it, 
Ihe  light  of  God's  glory  shines  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  is  intended  to  enlighten  the  world.  He  achieved  the 
authority  and  power  of  universal  king  by  virtue  of  his 
death.  Every  ray  of  light  that  emanates  from  him  is  of 
a  gospel  character,  and  shines  through  his  cross.  Every 
word  that  is  uttered  by  his  ambassadors  and  is  derived 
from  his  gospel,  proclaims  good  news  to  sinners  —  re- 
demption ihroufrh  his  blood,  and  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  to 
every  humble,  sincere  believer.     Through  his  sufferings 


*HE    NEW   COVENANT.  91 

?ind  death,  he  obtained  'he  power  and  office  of  Prince  and 
Saviour,  to  give  repentance  and  remission  of  sin;  and 
there  le  no  true  repentance  that  is  not  given  by  hioi 
through  the  gospel. 

The  New  Covenant  was  described  by,  and  was  compre- 
hended in  the  promise  that  God  made  by  Jeremiah  and 
repeated  by  Paul,  "Behold  the  days  come,  sailh  the  Lord, 
that  I  will  make  a  New  Covrenant  with  the  house  of  Israel, 
and  with  the  house  of  Judah :     Not  according  to  the  Cov- 
enant that,  I  made  with  their  fathers,  in  the  day  that  I  took 
them  by  the  hand,  to  brin^-  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt; 
which  my  Covenant  they  brake,  although  I  was  a  hus- 
band unto  them,   saith  the  Lord;  but    this   shall   be    the 
Covenant  that  I  will  make   with   the  house  of  Israel;  Af- 
ter those  days  sairh  the  Lord,  I  will  put  my  law  in  their 
inward  parts,  alid  write  it  in  their  hearts;  and  will  be  their 
God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people.     And  they  shall  teach 
no   more   every  man  his  neighbor,  and  every  man  his 
brother,  saying,  know  the  Lord :  for  they  shall  all  know 
me,  from  the  least  of  them  to  the  greatest  of  them,  saith 
the  Lord:  for  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  I  will  re- 
member their  sins  no  more."     Jer.  xxxi,  31-34;  Heb.  8. 
This  Covenant  is  called  a  New  Covenant,  in  compari- 
son to  the  Covenant  God  made  with  the  Jewish  nation  at 
Horeb,  which  is  called  the  Old  Covenant,  and  upon  which 
he  organized  them  as  his  church  or  congregation,  and 
which,  with  its  priesthood,  was  only  typical   and  tempora- 
ry, and   was  abolished  by  the  death  of  Christ  and  by  the 
establishment  of  the  Gospel   Covenant.     Heb.  viii,  6,  13; 
X,  5,  18. 

The  New  Covenant  has  laws  as  the  Old  one  had.  Mo- 
ses wrote  the  laws  of  the  Old  Covenant;  and  the  laws  of 
the  New  one  are  to  be  found  in  the  hook  of  the  New  Cov- 
enant, which  was  written  by  the  Evangelists  and  the  Apos- 
tles 


B2  THE    NEW    COVENANT. 

The  laws  of  the  Old  one,  though  written  twice  by  the 
finger  of  God,  were  engraven  only  on  tables  of  stone, 
(Exod.  xxxi,  18;  xxxiv,  1;)  and  n>)t  on  the  hearts  of  the 
people;  and  fheieiore,  when  'he  Jewish  people  promised 
to  obey  them,  the  Lord,  who  knew  their  hearts  better  than 
they  did  them^e»ves,  said,  "O  that  there  were  such  a 
heart  in  them  that  they  would  fear  me,  and  keep  my  com- 
mandments always."  Deut.  v,  21-29.  Bur  in  the  New 
Covenant  he  proimised  to  supply  what  was  wantmg  in  the 
first,  and  to  give  his  laws  in  a  more  effectual  manner,  so 
as  to  secure  the  obedience  of  his  people  under  it.  They 
were  to  be  "  written,  not  with  ink,"  as  in  the  book  of  the 
law, '"but  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God;  not  in  tables 
of  stone,  but  in  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart. "  2  Cor.  iii,  3 . 
This  was  done  by  failh  in  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  secured  the  actual  remission  of  sin  to  every  true 
believer,  and  the  reception  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

The  old  Jewish  or  Horeb  Covenant  was  temporary  and 
typical,  and  its  offerings  were  carnal.  It  made  no  provis- 
ion for  the  actual  remission  of  spiritual  sins;  "  'he  blood  of 
bulls  and  of  goats,  and  the  ashes  of  a  heifer  sprmkling  the 
unclean,  sanctified  only  to  the  puritying  of  the  flesh;  but 
the  blood  of  the  New  Covenant,  ihe  blood  of  Christ,  who, 
through  the  eternal  Spii*it,  offered  himself  without  Sj)ot  to 
God,  purifies  the  conscience  from  dead  W'.)rk!-,  to  serve  the 
living  God."  Heb.  ix,  13,  14.  Through  it  God  purifies 
the  heart  by  faith.     Acts  xv,  9. 

The  Old  Covenant  and  offerings  were  only  a  shadow  of 
good  things  to  come,  and  never  made  the  comers  there- 
unto perfect.  In  its  sacrifices  there  was  a  remembrance 
again  matle  of  sins  every  year,  and  not  the  remission  of 
them.  Wherefore,  when  the  New  Covenant  was  about  to 
be  ostublished,  and  Christ's  blood  was  to  ho.  shed  for  the 
remission  of  sin,  or  in  order  to  it,  he  said,  "  Lo,  1  come  to 


THE    NEW    COVENANT. 


93 


do  thy  will,  O  God,  in  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices  for 
sins  thou  hast  no  pleasure."  Jesus  Christ  did  the  will  of 
God  by  offering  his  body,  which  God  had  ordained  and 
prepared  for  him,  once  for  all,  by  which  he  perfected  for- 
ever them  that  ar€  sanctified .  By  faith  in  him,  the  sins 
and  iniquities  of  all  true  believers  are  remembered  no 
more.  They  are  justified  freely,  by  grace,  through  the 
redemption  there  is  in  Christ  Jesus:  they  have  redemp- 
tion through  his  blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  And 
where  remission  of  these  is,  there  is  no  more  offering  for 
sin. 

The  New  Covenant  is  called  by  Paul  the  Covenant  of 
the  Spirit,  in  comparison  with  the  Oid  Covenant,  which  is 
termed  the  Covenant  of  the  letter:  2  Cor.  iii,  6,  in  allusion 
to  Exod.  xxxiv,  28,  where  the  ten  commandments  written 
with  letters  on  two  tables  of  stone  are  called,  "the  words 
of  the  covenant." 

The  New  Covenant  on  which  the  Gospel  Church  is 
built,  and  which  secures  the  remission  of  sin,  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  to  all  true  believers,  who  are  the  only 
proper  members  of  that  church,  and  of  which  the  Apos- 
tles were  able  ministers,  is  called  the  Covenant  of  the 
Spirit,  in  allusion  to  Jer.  xxxi,  33 ;  and  because  it  secures  the 
remission  of  spiritual  sins  —  bestows  spiritual  influences, 
and  gives  the  qualifications  for  spiritual  worship,  and  se- 
cures spiritual  enjoyment .  It  is  also  called  the  Covenant  of 
the  Spirit,  because  it  was  ushered  in,  agreeably  to  ancient 
prophecy,  by  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at  its  commence- 
ment on  the  day  of  Pentecost  and  afterwards,  and  was 
the  foundation  of  a  spiritual  church,  and  of  the  spiritual 
kingdom  of  God;  and  because  it  was  published  to  ihe 
world,  after  Christ  made  the  one  offering  of  his  own  bodv 
in  Heaven,  and  was  glorified  as  High  Priest  forever,  by 
the  inspirations  of  the  Spirit,  and  was  confirmed  and 
9 


!)4  THE    NEW    COVENANT. 

sealed  by  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  bestowed 
upon  the  early  believers.  Paul  said,  "God  hath  made  us 
able  minister?  of  the  New  Covenant,  not  of  the  letter, 
but  of  the  Spirit;  for  the  letter  killeth,  but  the  Spirit 
maketh  alive;"  the  Covenant  of  the  letter  killeth  every 
sinner  by  its  curse,  but  the  Covenant  of  the  Spirit  mak- 
eth alive  every  believer  by  its  promises:  2  Cor.  iii,  6. 
It  is  called  the  Covenant  of  the  Spirit  also,  because  it  se- 
cures the  resurrection  of  our  corrupt  natural  bodies,  in- 
corruptible and  spiritual  bodies:   1  Cor.  xv,  44. 

Paul  terms  the  Covenant  of  the  letter,  Moses,  because 
he  was  the  minister  of  that  Covenant,  and  he  calls  the 
Covenant  of  the  Spirit  the  Lord,  because  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  author  and  mediatorial  administrator  of  it: 
2  Cor.  iii,  17.  In  the  last  verse,  he  says,  "the  Lord  is 
the  Spirit,  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is 
liberty."  Macknight  explains  it  thus,  "The  Lord  signi- 
fies the  Covenant  of  the  Spirit,  of  which  the  Apostles 
were  ministers,  and  where  the  Spirit,  the  inspiration  of 
the  Lord  is,  there  is  freedom  of  speaking."  In  Paul's 
Epistles,  Christ,  and  Christ  Jesus,  are  often  put  for  the 
Gospel  or  the  Covenant  of  the  Spirit. 

The  establishment  of  the  New  Covenant,  by  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  abrogated  the  Old  Cov- 
enant and  Jewish  state.  This  left  the  Jews  in  a  state  of 
widowhood,  in  respect  to  that  Covenant,  and  fi-ee  to  mar- 
ry him  who  was  risen  from  the  dead,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ:  Rom.  vii,  4.  This  they  did,  when  they  believed 
in  him  as  Messiah  and  were  baptized  into  his  name. 

The  New  Covenant  knows  nothing  of  any  salvation 
but  through  faith.  Infants  dying  in  infancy  are  saved,  as 
to  the  price  of  redemption,  just  as  adults  are.  They  are 
saved  by  the  same  atonement,  but  they  are  not  saved  as 
adults  are,  by  the  truth  believed.     That  sacrifice,  which 


THE    NEW    COVENANT.  95 

is  the  ground  of  the  New  Covenant,  is  the  salvation  of  in- 
fants who  die  in  infancy.  But  there  is  no  part  of  the 
Word  of  God  that  intimates,  that  it  is  through  faith  in  that 
sacrifice  that  they  are  saved.  God,  who  purifies  the 
hearts  of  aduhs  through  faith  in  that  sacrifice,  can  apply 
it  to  dying  infants  without  faith;  for  faith  has  no  merit 
more  than  works.  Infants  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  cov- 
enant that  requires  faith  for  salvation.  The  atonement  of 
Christ  is  not  the  New  Covenant,  though  it  is  the  founda- 
tion of  it.  Were  it  true  that  infants  could  not  be  saved 
but  by  this  Covenant,  none  of  them  would  be  saved,  be- 
cause none  of  them  can  believe.  This  would  denounce 
to  condemnation,  all  who  die  before  the  belief  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Infants  who  die  are  included  in  the  Covenant  of  re- 
demption, according  to  which  Christ,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
tasted  death  for  every  man.  Though  infants  are  not 
saved  by  faith,  they  can  join  in  the  song  of  the  Lamb 
in  Heaven  — "  Thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  thy  blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people,  and  nation." 

The  subjects  of  the  New  Covenant  knoic  the  Lord  — 
all  of  them  know  him  —  even  the  least  of  them:  —  they 
have  the  law  of  God  put  into  their  mind,  and  icritten  on 
their  heart.  This  is  done  by  faith  in  the  Gospel.  This 
surely  cannot  include  infants,  who  know  nothing.  Is 
there  not  a  necessity  to  teach  children  as  soon  as  they 
are  capable  of  instruction,  to  know  the  Lord?  Are  any 
children  found,  who  need  not  this  instruction?  We  have 
seen  that  Calvin's  notion  of  instinctive  or  innate  religion 
is  not  true.  If  not, there  are  no  infants  in  this  Covenant. 
I  repeat,  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  was  as  ne- 
cessary for  infants  as  for  adults.  But  had  it  pleased  God, 
that  ail  that  shall  be  saved  should  die  in  infancy,  there 
would  have  been  no  need  of  the  New   Covenant  at  all. 


96 


THE   NEW    COVENANt- 


The  gospel,  then,  would  have  never  been  preached;  no 
person  in  his  senses  would  preach  to  infants  before  they 
could  know  the  meaning  of  words.  The  necessity  of 
taith,  and  the  necessity  of  atonement,  are  not  of  the  same 
kind.  Without  the  atonement,  none  can  be  saved.  Adults 
are  saved  by  faith  in  the  atonement; — infants  who  die 
in  infancy,  are  saved  by  the  grace  of  God,  through  the 
atonement,  without  faith. 

The  infants  of  Abraham  were  not  saved,  when  they 
died  in  infancy,  by  Abraham's  Covenant.  He  was  not 
the  spiritual  father  of  his  own  infant  seed.  He  was  not 
constituted  the  head  of  all  the  redeemed,  but  the  head  of 
believers  only.  By  the  Covenant  made  with  him,  he  was 
constituted  the  father  of  all  them  that  believe,  out  of  every 
nation.  To  his  own  descendants  he  was  "  the  spiritual 
father  only  of  them  who  walk  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  " 
which  he  had.  He  was  justified  by  faith,  and  was  made 
the  father  of  all  of  them  that  believe:  Rom.  iv,  9  —  Gal. 
iii,  6,  7,  9.  There  was  no  spiritual  connection  between 
Abraham  and  his  infant  seed,  by  the  Covenant  that  God 
made  with  him.  His  justification  was  not  the  pattern  of 
theirs.  He  was  justified  by  faith:  his  mfants  dying  in 
infancy  were  not  justified  by  faith.  They  were  saved, 
as  all  infants  were  saved  from  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
and  will  be  to  the  end  of  the  world,  through  the  bruising 
of  the  heel  of  the  seed  of  the  woman.  The  Covensnt 
made  with  Abraham  in  Gen.  xii,  1-3,  is  not  made  with 
all  believers.  Has  God  promised  to  every  believer  that 
he  will  make  him  a  great  nation  as  he  did  to  Abraham? 
Or  that  he  shall  be  as  celebrated  as  Abraham?  Or  that 
Messiah  shall  descend  from  him?  Or  that  in  him  all  fam- 
ilies of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed?  Every  believer  shall 
be  blessed  ncconiing  to  that  Covenant,  but  it  is  by  having 
his  faith,  like  Abraham's,  counted  to  him  for  righteousness* 


THE   NETVV    COVENANT.  ^97 

not  by  being  like  Abraham,  the  father  of  any  of  the  faith- 
ful. 

The  Covenant  made  with  Abraham  has  a  letter  and  a 
spirit.  For  the  aocomplishment  of  the  grand  promise, 
that  all  nations  should  be  blessed  in  Abraham,  several 
promises  were  given  him.  He  was  to  have  a  numerous 
posterity,  which  was  fulfilled  in  the  letter,  in  the  nation  of 
Israel.  It  was  fulfilled  in  the  spirit,  by  the  divine  con- 
stitution that  mokes  all  believers  the  children  of  Abraham, 
under  the  Gospel.  The  nation  of  the  Jews  were  Abra- 
ham's children,  according  to  the  Jiesh,  yet  there  is  a  sense 
in  which  Jesus  Christ  denies  that  they  were  the  children 
of  Abraham :  John  viii,  39-44 :  Gal.  iv  — and  in  that  sense 
they  were  the  bond  sons  of  Hagar  The  christian  Gen- 
tiles are  not  the  children  of  Abraham  according  to  the 
flesh,  but  they  are  his  children  according  to  the  Spirit,  by 

having  Abraham's  faith:  Gal.  iii,  7,  9,  26-29:  Gal.  iv 

and  they  answer  to  the  free  born  son  of  Sarah.  God 
promished  to  be  a  God  to  Abraham  and  his  seed.  This 
was  fulfilled  in  the  letter,  by  his  protecting  Israel  in 
Egypt  —  by  his  delivering  them  from  bondage  —  by  his 
taking  them  into  Covenant  at  Sinai  —  and  all  his  subse- 
quent dealings  with  them  in  their  generations,  till  they 
were  cast  off  for  their  rejection  of  Christ.  This  promise 
was  fulfilled  in  the  Spirit,  by  God's  being  a  God  to  all  be- 
lievers, and  to  them  alone,  (Rom.  iv,  11,  12,)  in  a  higher 
sense  than  he  was  to  Israel :  Jer.  xxxi,  33.  Another  prom- 
ise was,  the  land  of  Canaan;  fulfilled  in  the  letter  to  Israel, 
and  in  the  Spirit  fulfilled  to  the  true  Israel,  in  the  posses- 
•sion  of  the  heavenly  inheritance. 

The  New  Covenant  is  the  foundation  of  a  new  creation, 

which  embraces  in  its  rich  provisions  of  divine  favour, 

Jew  and  Gentile,   male  and  female,  bond  and  free.     If 

any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  nexc  creature.     We  miii^ 

9  * 


9y  THE    NEW    COVENANT. 

look  into  the  blessings  and  privileges  secured  and  given 
to  us  in  the  New  Covenant,  to  learn  what  the  blessings 
and  privileges  of  true  believers  are,  and  which,  by  6ie 
grace  of  God,  constitute  them  new  creatures,'  as  we  must 
look  into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  learn 
the  blessings  and  privileges  of  citizenship  in  the  United 
States.  Under  the  Old  or  Jewish  Covenant  the  natural 
descendants  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  the  twelve 
patriarchs,  possessed  many  distinguished  privileges,  and 
blessings,  conferred  upon  them  by  God^  their  political 
King; — and  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  employ  many 
forms  of  expression  to  represent  them.  The  Jewish  na- 
tion were  said  ta  have  been  created,  made,  begotten  and 
formed  by  God,  on  account  of  their  natural  connection 
with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  the  twelve  patri- 
archs, and  their  natural  birth  under  the  Old  Covenant,  by 
which  they  were  citizens  of  the  commonwealth  of  Israel. 
They  were  said  to  be  a  nation  of  kings  and  priests,  and 
the  people  and  kingdom  of  God,  as  expressive  of  the  hon- 
ors, privileges  and  blessings  they  possessed  under  God, 
in  distinction  from  the  Gentiles,  who  were  called  no  peo- 
ple, aliens,  strangers,  foreigners  and  enemies. 

The  Old  Covenant,  however,  with  its  priests  and  sac- 
rifices, procured  no  actual  remission  of  the  sins  of  the 
•^oul,  and  gave  them  no  spiritual  blessings.  These  were 
reserved  for  the  New  Covenant,  or  the  Covenant  of  the 
Spirit,  and,  as  far  as  possessed,  were  derived  by  anticipa- 
tion from  it:  Rom.  iii,  25;  Heb.  ix,  15.  The  introduc- 
tion and  establishment  of  the  New  Covenant,  destroyed 
all  the  proud  distinctions  that  existed  between  the  Jews 
and  the  Gentiles.  By  the  law  of  God,  all  were  concluded 
under  sin,  and  the  commission  given  to  the  Apostles  was, 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  to  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile, r»ale  and  female,  bond  and  free,  as  equally  sinful  and 


THE   NEW   COVENANT.  99 

helpless.  The  Jews,  who  had  been  born  naturally  under 
the  Old  Covenant,  were  religiously  bovn  of  God,  but  not 
of  the  Spirit.  They,  therefore,  must  be  born  again,  must 
be  created  anew,  and  made  new  creatures  by  God,  agree- 
ably to  principles  of  the  New  Covenant,  the  Covenant 
of  the  Spirit,  in  order  to  their  discerning  and  enjoying  the 
Gospel  Kingdom  of  God.  H>wever  pre-eminent  may 
have  been  the  distinctions  and  honors  conferred  upon  the 
natural  descendants  of  Abraham,  under  the  Old  Covenant, 
in  comparison  to  those  enjoyed  by  the  Gentiles,  God  says, 
in  reference  to  the  New  Covenan*,  and  the  new  heavens 
and  the  new  earth,  that  the  former,or  the  old  ones,  shall 
not  be  remembered,  or  come  into  his  mind:  Isa.  Ixv,  17. 

Paul,  in  comparing  the  Old  Covenant  and  Jewish  church 
with  their  ordinances  and  worship,  with  the  New  Covenant 
and  Gospel  church,  and  the  spiritual  blessings,  and  privile- 
ges, compares  the  former  to  Hagar  and  her  bond  son  Ish- 
mnel,  who  was  born  after  the  flesh;  and  the  latter,  to  Sarah 
and  her  free  son,  Isaac,  who  was  born  after  the  spirit.  He 
observes,"  Abraham  had  two  sons;  the  one  by  a  bond  maid, 
the  other  by  a  free  woman.  But  he  who  was  of  the  bond- 
woman, was  born  after  the  flesh;  but  he  of  the  free  woman 
was  by  promise.  Which  things  are  an  allegory,  for  these 
are  the  two  covenants :  the  one  from  the  mount  Sinai,  which 
gendereth  to  bondage,  which  is  Agar.  For  this  A<?ar  is 
mount  Sinai  in  Arabia,  and  answereth  to  Jerusalem  which 
)iow  is,  [or  the  Old  Covenant  and  Jewish  church,]  and  is  in 
bondage  with  her  children.  But  Jerusalem  which  is  above 
is  free,  which  is  the  mother  of  us  all,  [which  answer*  to 
the  New  Covenant  and  church  of  Christ.]  For  i^  is 
written.  Rejoice,  thou  that  bearest  not;  break  forth  and 
cry,  thou  that  travailest  not:  for  the  desolate  [or  desert- 
ed wife]  hath  more  children  than  she  which  hath  an  hus- 
i)and.     Now  we,  brethren,  as  Isaac  was,  are  the  children 


KM)  THE    NEW    COVENANT. 

of  promise.  But  as  then  he  that  was  born  after  the  flesh 
persecuted  him  that  was  born  after  the  Spirit,  even  so  it  is 
now.  Nevertheless,  what  saith  the  scripture?  Cast  out 
the  bond-woman  and  her  son,  for  the  son  of  the  bond-wo- 
man shall  not  be  heir  with  the  son  of  the  free  woman.  So 
then,  brethren,  we  are  not  children  of  the  bond-wo- 
man, but  of  the  free."  Gal.  iv,  22-31 :  Isa.  liv,  1.  The 
plain  meaning  of  this  allegory  is  this  —  that  there  is  no 
more  resemblance  or  affinity  between  the  Old  Covenant, 
and  the  Jewish  church  built  upon  it,  composed  of  the  natural 
descendants  of  Abraham  through  the  twelve  patriarchs, 
and  the  New  Covenr.nt,  or  the  Covenant  of  the  Spirit  and 
the  Gospel  church  built  thereon,  composed  of  all  true  be- 
lievers in  Jesus  Christ  who  are  born  of  God  and  born 
again,  than  there  is  between  the  flesh  and  the  Spirit.  The 
former  are  in  the  flesh,  and  in  bondage  to  the  law^,  and  are 
under  condemnation,  and  in  that  state  cannot  please  God, 
although  they  may  be  the  natural  offspring  of  Abraham, 
or  of  believing  parents.  The  latter  are  the  spiritual  seed 
of  Abraham,  having  his  faith,  and  are  born  of  God  by  the 
incorruptible  seed  of  the  word  believed,  and  are  made 
free  by  the  Son  of  God.  These  are  Abraham's  spiritual 
seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the  promise.  They  have 
Abraham's  faith,  and  are  blessed  with  faithful  Abraham. 
The  blessing  of  Abraham  has  come  upon  them,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  and  they  have  received  the  promise  of  the 
Spirit  through  faith.  Owing  to  the  rich  blessings  of  the 
New  Covenant,  which  are  bestowed  upon  true  believers 
in  Jesus  Christ,  Jews  and  Gentiles,  they  are  all  new  crea- 
tures, are  born  ngain,  and  born  of  God.  By  Jesus  Christ, 
they  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things,  from  which 
the  law  of  Moses  could  not  justify  them,  and  are  taken  in- 
to the  'livino  favour.  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life  in 
his  Son,  and  they  that  believe  in  him  have  eternal  life. 


THE    NEW    COVENANT.  lOl 

The  New  Covenant,  administered  by  Jesus  Christ,  in 
whom  dwells  the  fulness  of  the  God-head  bodily,  provides 
for,  and  will  secure,  the  conversion  of  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  to  God.  The  Old  Covenant  of  particularity^ 
secured  the  blessings  of  the  Jewish  theocracy  to  the  Jew- 
ish nation,  in  the  land  of  Jiidea.  These  blessings  were 
only  temporary  and  typical.  But  the  New  Covenant  of 
universality,  extends  to  the  whole  world.  Under  it,  the 
heathen  is  given  to  King  Jesus  for  his  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession;  by 
reason  of  his  having  tasted  death  for  every  man.  The 
blessings  of  the  New  Covenant  are  spiritual  and  eternal, 
and  have  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  and  of  that 
which  is  to  come.  All  the  promises  of  God,  in  if,  are 
yea  and  amen  in  Christ  Jesus.  By  its  grace  and  bless- 
ino'Sj  if  any  man  be  in  Christ  Jesus  he  is  a  new  creature. 
Old  things  have  passed  away  and  all  things  have  become 
new.  Is  not  the  state  of  that  man  a  neiv  one,  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  is  it  not  made  so  hy  him,  whether  he  be  a  Jew  or  a 
Gentile,  whose  sins  are  pardoned,  and  who  is  received  in- 
to the  divine  favour,  and  who  loves  and  serves  God  in 
spirit  and  in  truth?  This  is  the  condi-ion  of  every  man 
whose  heart  is  purified  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  is 
begotten  of  God  to  a  hope  of  another  life,  hrough  the  re- 
surrection of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  and  will  be  rais- 
ed from  the  dead  in    he  likeness  of  the  Siviour. 

Under  the  Adamic  Covenant,  br  iken  by  our  fit\«^  pa- 
rents, we  all  became  naturally  mortal.  Sin  entered  'he 
world,  and  death  by  sin,  and  dealh  passed  upon  us  all  be- 
cause we  all  have  sinned.  But  death  is  made  a  blessing 
under  the  New  Covenant  to  every  true  believer.  F  m-,  by 
the  grace  and  mercy  of  God,  given  to  us  in  Christ,  under 
the  New  Covennn^  we  are  to  rise  a^ain,  an  1  'enve  'he 
corruption,  weakness  and  mortality  of  the  first  Adam  in  the 


102  THE    NEW    COVENANT. 

grave,  and  rise  in  the  likeness  of  the  second  Adam,  and 
be  like  him,  spiritual,  incorruptible  and  immortal.  Our 
depravity,  weakness  and  mortality,  are  owing  to  the  fact 
of  our  union,  by  natural  generation,  with  the  first  fallen 
Adam.  After  he  fell,  and  lost  the  image  and  likeness  of 
God,  he  begat  children  in  his  own  likeness.  Numbers  in 
his  descendants,  and  distance  of  time  from  him,  do  not 
weaken  the  power  of  corruption  and  death.  Six  thousand 
years  find  the  minds  and  bodies  of  Adam's  race  as  corrupt 
and  mortal  as  were  those  nearest  him.  The  fact  of  our  con- 
nection with  a  fiallen,  depraved,  mortal  head,  is  that  upon 
which  our  fallen,  depraved,  mortal  nature  depends.  And 
\kiQ,  fact  of  our  connection  or  union  with  Jesus  Christ,  the 
second  Adam,  by  faith  and  a  holy  life,  is  that  upon  which, 
by  the  rich,  gracious  provisions  of  the  New  Covenant,  our 
justification,  sanctification,  and  eternal  life  depend.  Those 
who  are  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus, 
God  has  fore-ordained  shall  be  conformed  to  the  image  of 
his  dear  Son,  and  be  like  him.  As  they  have  borne  the 
image  of  the  earthly  Adam,  they  shall  also  bear  the  im- 
age of  the  heavenly. 

The  divine  provisions  of  mercy  and  grace,  given  to  us 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  which  are  developed  and  imparted 
through  his  atonement  and  mediation,  are  the  great  dis- 
coveries of  Christianity.  These  discoveries  at  once  bring 
into  view  God,  as  a  God  of  justice,  love  and  mercy,  and 
perfectly  harmonize  all  his  attributes.  Here  justice  as- 
serts all  its  claims,  and  receives  all  its  demands;  holiness 
appears  in  its  purest  lustre;  faithfnUiess  in  its  most  en- 
gaging aspects;  while  love  beams  with  ail  its  tenderness, 
and  mere}'  shines  forth  with  its  most  engaging  attractions. 
Here,  God  and  man  are  reconciled;  the  former  by  the  re- 
movai  of  the  cause  of  displeasure,  by  the  propitiation  of 
Jesus  Christ;  the  latter  by  the  destruction  of  his  enmity 


THE    NEW    COVENANT.  l03 

through  the  manifestation  of  the  love  of  God  in  the  gift 
of  his  Sjh,  and  the  pardon  or  remission  of  his  sins  by 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  The  suitableness  and  efficacy  of 
this  heaven-derived  cure,  are  felt  by  all  who  do  truly  and 
sincerely  receive  it.  Here,  by  faith,  they  obtain  relief 
from  their  sense  of  guilt  and  fear  of  punishment,  while  they 
experience,  in  the  object  of  their  faith  and  confidence,  an 
absorbmg  and  transforming  power,  which  withdraws  them 
from  evil  and  selfishness,  and  produces  a  disrelish  for 
them,  and  unites  them  to  the  gracious,  good,  and  h.dy 
God  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  makes  them  happy  in  his  service. 

The  New  Covenant  and  Gospel,  unveil  the  glory  of 
the  invisible  Creator  and  Redeemer,  and  present  him  be- 
fore his  creatures  robed  in  all  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and 
invested  with  all  the  charms  of  love,  mercy  and  grace; 
and  allure  and  persuade  them  to  receive  and  submit  to 
him  as  their  God  and  Saviour.  They  bring  him  near 
without  lowering  him ;  they  clothe  him  with  condescen- 
sion without  degrading  him;  and  they  enthrone  him  in 
majesty  without  surrounding  him  with  terror. 

The  Gospel  of  the  New  Covenant  makes  its  appeal  to 
the  understanding  and  the  conscience,  to  the  feelings  and 
the  wants,  to  the  hopes  and  the  fears  of  mankind.  It  is 
thus  that  it  carries  with  it  the  evidence  that  it  originated 
in  the  wisdom,  love,  and  grace  of  God .  It  bears  on  its 
own  face  a  message  of  mercy  and  peace,  to  every  crea- 
ture. It  furnishes  a  cure  for  every  evil,  and  provides  a 
remedy  for  every  sorrow.  It  finds  all  mankind  sinners, 
polluted  and  helpless,  and  proclaims  remission  of  sin  and 
eternal  life  to  every  creature,  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  infallibly  bestows  them  upon  every  true  believer. 


ESSAY    VI. 


ATONEMENT. 


The  word  atonement,  in  its  original  sense,  always  de- 
notes some  amends  or  satisfaction,  for  the  neglect  of  some 
duty,  or  the  commission  of  some  fault  or  crime. 

The  sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  were  an  ex- 
piatory offering,  appointed  by  God,  on  account  of  which, 
God's  mercy  and  grace  are  communicated  to  us  by  the 
Gospel,  and  our  sins  are  pardoned,  and  we  are  received 
into  the  divine  favour.  "  He  was  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions; he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities;  the  chastise- 
ment of  our  peace  was  upon  him;  and  by  his  stripes  are 
we  healed .  All  we,  like  sheep,  have  gone  astray ;  we 
have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way ;  and  the  Lord 
hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  Isa.liii,  5,  6.  The 
sentiment  of  the  passage  is  made  more  perspicuous  by 
the  following  translation:  — 

"He  was  wounded  on  account  of  our  transgressions j 
he  was  smitten  on  account  of  our  iniquities;  the  chas- 
tisement by  which  our  peace  is  procured  was  laid  on  him; 
and  by  his  wounds  are  we  healed.  All  we,  like  sheep 
have  gone  astray ;  wo  have  wandered  each  one  in  the 
path  that  he  chose,  and  Jehovah  hath  laid  on  him  the 
punishment  due  to  us  all." 

This  passage,  and  Jesus  Christ  to  whom  it  relates,  have 
been  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling  block,  and  to  many  of  the 
Gentiles  foolishness.     The  Evangelists  and  the  Apostles 


ATONEMENT.  105 

bave  told  us  that  this  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah  is  a  de- 
scription of  the  sutTerings  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  salva- 
tion of  mankind.  Philip  from  this  passage  preached  Je- 
sus to  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch:  Acts  viii,  26-35.  Peter 
has  also  applied  a  pait  of  the  chapter  to  the  same  distin- 
guished sufferer.  "  Christ  suffered  for  us  —  his  own  seif 
bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree  —  by  whose 
stripes  we  are  healed;  for  ye  were  as  sheep  going  a- 
stray."  1  Peter  ii,  21-25.  Jesus  Christ  himself  cites 
a  part  of  Isa.  liii;  as  containing  a  description  of  his  own 
sufferings.  "  I  say  unto  you,  that  what  is  written  must 
be  accomplished  in  me;  And  he  was  reckoned  among 
the  transgressors."  Luke  xxii,  37:  comp.  Isaiah  liii,  12. 

The  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  are  everywhere 
represented  in  scripture,  as  the  special  procuring  caase 
of  our  redemption;  while  his  obedience  is  also  represent- 
ed as  a  concurring  cause  or  ground  of  our  salvation.  His 
en  ire  obedience  or  sinless  perfection,  was  essential  to 
his  character  as  a  substitute  for  sinners;  for  if  he  had 
himself  sinned,  instead  of  presenting  an  acceptable  sacri- 
fice for  others,  himself  would  have  needed  an  expiatory 
offering.  His  expiatory  sacrifice  is  the  great  point,  on 
which  rests  the  fact  of  the  gospel  proclamation  of  God's 
mercy  to  helpless  sinners,  our  restoration  to  the  divine 
favour,  and  a  blessed  and  glorious  immortality.  When, 
therefore,  I  say,  that  Christ  in  his  sufferings  loas  our  sub- 
stitute, or,  by  them  he  made  an  expiatory  offering  for 
us,  I  mean,  that  God  did  appoint  and  accept  the  suffer- 
ings of  Christ  instead  of  the  punishment  dMe  to  us,  as 
sinners  against  his  law,  and  that  in  consequence  of  this 
appointment,  and  of  these  sufferings,  he  communicates  to 
us  spiritual,  gospel  light,  gives  us  faith  and  repentance, 
and  forgives  us  our  sins,  and  receives  us  to  his  favour. 

An  acientive    examination  of  the   subject,  under  the 


106  ATONEMENT. 

light  of  the  scriptures,  clearly  establishes  the  fact,  that 
the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  was  not  only  of  divine  appoint- 
ment, but  was  that  upon  which  the  purpose  and  grace  of 
God  in  the  salvation  of  sinners  of  the  human  family  were 
suspended  from  the  beginning,  and  through,  and  by  virtue 
of  which,  redetnption  and  salvation  with  all  their  bles- 
sings are  communicated,  and  Christ  is  glorified. 

The  following  statements  are  taken  from  Prof.  Stuart 
on  the  Atonement:  —  "A  substitute  is  something  put  in 
lieu  of  another  thing,  and  accepted  instead  of  it.     An  of- 
fering  is  something  presented  to  God.     An  offering  which 
is  acceptable  to  him,  is  one  made  by  his  appointment. 
An  expiatory  offering  underthe  Jewish  law,  was  a  slain 
beast,  presented  to  God  by   his  appointment,  and  by  a 
person  who  had  been  guilty  of  some  offence,  and  incurred 
a   penalty;  in   consequence    of  which  presentation,   the 
penalty  for  his  offence,  threatened  by  the  law  of  Moses, 
was  remitted,  or  the  offehder  was  pardoned.     To  say,  then, 
that  Christ  made  an  expiatory  offering  for  us,  according 
to   my  apprehension    of  the  meaning   of  scriptural  lan- 
guage, ^implies  that  his  sufferings  and  death  iccre,  by  di- 
vine appointment,  accepted  instead  of  the  punishment  due 
to  pis  as  sinners,  and  that  God  in  consequence  of  the  of- 
fering made  by  Christ,  pardons  our  offences  and  receives 
us  to  his  favour.     This,  also,  is  just  what  I  mean,  when 
I  say  that  Christ,  in  his  sufferings  and  death,  was  our  sub- 
stitute:'^'^ And  I  would  say,  that  in  consequence  of  Christ's 
sufferings  and  death,  and  of  his  offering  himself  as  an  expia- 
tory offering  to  God,  the  New  Covenant  was  procured  and 
ratified,  and  is  administered  by  Jesus  Christ,  as  Mediator 
and  High  Priest,  according  to  which  the  Gospel  is  preach- 
ed, and  faith,  repentance  and  remission  of  sin,  are  com- 
municated. 

The  atonement  is  not,  properly  speaking,  commercial. 


ATONEMENT.  107 

but  moral  in  its  nature  and  character.  Christ,  in  his  ex- 
piatory sufferings  and  death,  was  our  substitute.  A  sub- 
stitute may  be,  and  where  it  is  "voluntarily  accepted  on 
the  part  of  him  to  whom  any  debt  or  reparation  is  due, 
must  be,  an  equivalent  of  some  kind  or  other,  a  satisfac- 
tion in  some  sense,  for  such  a  debt  or  penalty  diie.  But 
it  may  be  equivalent  or  satisfactory,  without  being  the 
game  in  kind  or  quantity  as  that  in  the  place  of  which  it 
comes.  For,  plainly,  an  equivalent  is  of  two  sorts.  The 
first  has  respect  to  kind  and  quantity,  and  requires  equal- 
ity or  sameness  in  regard  to  both.  The  second  is,  where 
the  substitute  answers  the  same  end^  as  that  would  have 
done  in  the  place  of  which  it  is  put,  or  a  higher  end  of 
the  same  nature.  The  first  species  of  substitution  or  equiv- 
alency, belongs  to  various  transactions  of  business  among 
men;  such  as  borrowing  and  lending,  exchange  of. various 
species  of  property,  and  other  things  of  the  like  nature. 

Equivalency  of  tlie  second  kind,  has  respect  to  transac- 
tions of  a  civil  or  penal  nature,  and  to  the  intercourse  of 
rational  beings  with  each  other,  as  subjects  of  social  or 
other  laws.  For  example,  banishment  is  often  substituted 
by  civil  governments  instead  of  inflicting  the  penalty  of 
death;  fines,  instead  of  imprisonment  or  other  corporeal 
punishment.  In  all  transactions  which  have  respect  to  a 
penalty,  for  any  injury  done,  or  any  violation  of  law, 
where  substitution  is  admitted  with  regard  to  the  offender, 
that  kind  of  equivalency  which  consists  in  the  same  qual- 
ity and  quantity,  is  out  of  the  question.  The  letter  of  a 
penal  law  demands,  that  the  offender  himself,  and  no  oth- 
er, should  suffer.  But  the  object  of  the  penalty  —  the  ul- 
timate and  highest  object  of  attaching  it  to  the  law  —  may 
be  attained,  perhaps,  in  some  other  way,  and  by  substitu- 
tion, even  in  a  more  effectual  manner,  than  by  a  literal 
infliction  of  the  punishment  threatened.     On  the  supposi- 


108  ATONEMENT. 

tion  'hnt  it  can  be,  then  if  a  substitute  be  admitted  instead 
of  literally  inflicting  the  penalty,  satisfaction  may  be  tru- 
ly said  to  be  made,  or  an  equivalent  rendered,  according 
to  the  common  usage  and  understanding  of  all  men,  in 
respect  lo  subjects  of  this  nature.  Indeed,  the  term 
equivalent  has  come  by  usage,  most  commonly  to  imply 
that  the  substitute  does  differ  in  some  respects  from  that 
for  which  it  is  substituted. 

If  Christ  died,  then,  as  a  substitute  for  sinners,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  suppose,  that  his  sufferings  were  the  same 
in  quantity  and  quality  as  would  have  been  endured  by 
those  in  whose  room  he  suffered,  in  case  the  penalty 
of  the  law  had  been  executed  upon  them .  The  sting  of 
a  guilty  conscience — self  condemnation  and  reproach, 
for  having  personally  violated  the  just  laws  of  God  —  the 
worm  that  never  dies,  and  the  cup  of  wrath  without  mix- 
ture which  is  drunk  by  sinners  in  the  world  of  woe,  the 
spotless  Saviour  never  felt.  To  them  his  heart,  which, 
delighted  in  the  law  of  God,  and  which  was  perfect  puri- 
ty, must  have  been  a  stranger.  However  high,  then,  his 
sufferings  mounted,  they  could  not  have  been  the  same  in 
hind  as  those  of  the  wicked  in  the  world  of  misery. 
With  regard  to  the  quantity  of  his  sufferings,  we  cannot 
assert,  that  they  are  the  same  with  those  they  deserved 
whom  he  redeemed.  The  duration  of  Christ's  sufferings 
was  limited.  He  suffered,  if  we  take  his  whole  life  as  the 
period  of  them,  but  a  few  years.  In  his  divine  nature, 
considered  as  the  immutable  God,  we  cannot  conceive  of 
his  having  suffered;  and,  indeed,  the  scriptures  always 
represent  him  as  having  assumed  the  human  nature  in  or- 
der that  he  might  suffer.  Phil,  ii,  6-8:  Heb.  ii,  9.  Great 
as  his  sufferings  were,  yet  they  were  not  like  those  of  the 
damned;  sufferings  of  absolute  and  hopeless  despair. 
He  could  look  beyond  them,  when  hanging  on  the  cross. 


ATONEMENT.  109 

He  did,  and  promised  the  dying  malefactor  that  he  should 
be  with  him  in  Paradise  that  same  day.  He  saw  the  glo- 
ry and  prosperity  of  his  kingdom  as  the  certain  result  of 
them.  He  had  a  resurrection  from  the  tomb  in  full  view; 
he  anticipated  his  ascension  to  the  throne  of  majesty  on 
high,  in  order  to  become  "  Head  over  all  things  to  the 
church,"  and  the  object  of  heavenly  worship  —  in  order 
to  participate  in  "  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the  Father 
before  the  world  was."  For  the  joy  set  before  him,  he 
endured  the  cross  and  despised  the  shame.  Heb.  xii,  2. 
However  great,  then,  his  sufferings  were,  we  can  hardly 
conceive  of  their  having  been  the  same  with  those  which 
were  due  to  sinners,  for  whom  he  suffered . 

When,  therefore,  I  say,  that  Christ  in  his  sufferings 
was  our  substitute,  I  do  not  mean  that  those  sufferings, 
were  the  same  in  kind  and  quantity  which  constitute  the 
torments  due  to  sinners  for  whom  he  suffered. 

Although  it  cannot  be  said,  with  strict  propriety,  that 
Christ  did  actually  suffer  torments,  the  same  in  kind  and 
quantity  as  were  due  to  sinners,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
ascertain  how  great  his  sufferings  really  were,  or  to  com- 
prehend them  in  all  their  relations  and  bearings.  They 
were,  by  divine  appointment,  essential  to  the  gospel  dis- 
pensation as  they  were  to  the  redemption  of  man.  It 
was  in  reference  to  them,  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  was 
promised  at  the  fall  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head,  and  that 
all  the  revelations  and  communications  of  God  were  made, 
through  the  long  period  of  four  thousand  years  before  the 
advent  of  Christ,  to  our  world.  And  it  has  been  in  con- 
sequence of  his  sufferings,  that  the  New  Covenant  wa^ 
made  and  ratified,  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sin 
have  been  given,  that  death  has  been  abolished,  and  life 
and  immortality  have  been  brouglit  to  light.  Through 
the  cross  of  Christ,  God  manifests  his  justice  and  mercv, 
10* 


110  ATONEMENT. 

his  hatred  to  sin  and  its  infinite  demerit,  and  his  love  io 
the  sinner,  as  it  is  by  the  faith  of  the  cross  the  enmity  of 
the  human  heart  is  slain,  and  through  it  the  remission 
of  sin  is  communicated,  and  the  sinner  is  reconciled  to 
God,  and  taken  into  his  favour. 

Jesus  Christ  died,  not  only  because  it  was  written  of 
him,  but,  because  it  was  appointed  of  God  that  he  should 
die  before  it  was  written ;  and  it  was  written  because  it 
was  appointed,  and  was  absolutely  necessary  in  the  di-' 
vine  purpose.  It  is  a  most  unscriptural  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, to  place  the  sufferings  of  Christ  which  he  submitted 
to  and  endured  wilHngly,  by  divine  appointment,  and 
which  were  received  by  God  for  the  redemption  of  sin- 
ners, upon  the  same  footing  with  the  sufferings  of  the 
Apostles  and  other  good  men.  It  was  because  of  Christ 
and  his  cross,  that  they  suffered  and  trimnphed,  as  by  Jiis 
death  they  obtained  life.  God  blessed  them  with  all  spir- 
itual blessings  in  Christ,  in  whom  they  had  redemption 
through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  according  to 
the  riches  ^f- his  grace.     Eph.  i,  3-7:  Col.  i,  12-14. .     ' 

Jesus  Christ  himself  was  advanced  to  the  throne  of 
his  mediatorial  glory  through  his  own  blood.  He  is  the 
Saviour  of  sinners  by  virtue  of  his  death.  The  redeem- 
ed in  heaven  fall  down  before  the  Lamb  with  their  harps, 
and  golden  vials  full  of  odours,  which  are  the  prayers 
of  the  saints,  and  sing  the  new  song,  saying  unto  him, 
"  Thou  art  worthy  to  take  the  book,  and  to  open  the  seals 
thereof:  for  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God,  by  thy  blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people,  and  nation,  and  hast  made  us,^unto  our  God,  kings 
and  priests,  and  we  shall  reign  upon  the  earth;  they 
washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb;  and  therefore,  are  they  before  the  throne  of 
God,  and  serve  him,  day  and  night,  in  bis  temple.     The 


ATONfiMENT»  111 

saints  overcame  the  old  serpent,  the  Devil  and  Satan, 
which  deceived  the  whole  world,  who  is  the  accuser  of 
the  brethren,  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word 
of  their  testimony.'"  .Rev.  v,  8-10:  vii,  14,  15:  xii,  9~ 
11.  But  we  hear  not  one  saint,  in  all  the  regions  of  glo- 
ry, ascribing  his  redemption  to  his  own  blood,  or  to  the 
blood  of  any  other,  by  divine  appointment,  than  to  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb. 

"That  Christ,  in  his -sufferings,  was  our  substitute,  or, 
that  by  them  he  made  an  expiatory  offering  for  sinners, 
is  a  matter  of  yJxc^,  and  is  revealed  by  the  scriptures, 
without  which  it  could  not  have  been  knovvn.  If  philos- 
ophy wonders  here,  she  has  no  right  to  scoff.  If  atone- 
ment, by  the  vicarious  suffering  and  death  of  Christ,  be 
a  reality,  it  is  one  which  the  book  of  God  onlv  reveals. 
That  this  is  the  case,  is  a  matter  quite  clear.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  that  substitution  or  vicarious  sacrifice  was  of  di- 
vine appointment,  was  admitted  for  nearly  fifteen  hundred 
years,  under  the  Mosaical  dispensation;  to  say  nothing  of 
expiatory  sacrifices  of  the  patriarchal  ages.  It  was  ad- 
mitted, LOO,  under  the  Mosaical  economy,  as  a  type  of  the 
substitution  or  expiatory  offering  of  Jesus  Christ.  Paul  has 
taught  us,  in  the  most  explicit  manner,  in  his  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  that  all  the  expiatory  offerings  and  sacrifices 
of  the  Jewsy  were  typical  of  the  great  atoning  sacrifice  by 
thd  death'  of  Christ',  dnd  that  they  were  originally  de- 
signed by  God  to  be  so.  It  is  a  fact,  that  the  blood  of 
goats  and  bullocks  were  appointed  by  GocI,  to  be  an  ex- 
piatory offering  for  certain  offences  against  the  Jewish 
law,  while,  at  the  same  time,  this  very  offering  was  also 
a  type  of  the  sacrifice  to  be  offered,  in  order  to  remove 
the  punishment  due  to  moral  turpitude.  He  who  brought 
a  sin  or  trespass  offering,  and  presented  it  to  the  Lord, 
was  exempted  from  the  sentence  which  the  law  of  Moses 


112  ATONEMENT. 

pronounced  against  the  external  offence  that  he  had  com- 
mitted. The  whole  nation,  as  such,  were  freed  from  (he 
penalty  annexed  to  cerfain  offences,  on  the  great  day  of 
atonement,  when  the  Hijih  Priest  entered  the  most  holy 
place,  and  presented  the  blood  of  the  national  offerin^y  or 
victim  before  Jehovah;  not  indeed  from  the  punishment 
of  a  spiritual  nature,  due  to  sin,  but  from  some  penalty 
of  an  external  nature,  threatened  in  the  present  life.  In 
a  word,  God,  as  the  sovereign  legislator  and  judge  of  the 
Jews,  did,  by  the  exercise  of  his  supreme  right,  actually 
appoint  sin  and  trespass  offerings  as  expiatory  sacrifices; 
which,  being  presented  agreeably  to  his  appointment, 
were  followed  b}^  the  real  remission,  on  his  part,  of  the 
penalty  due  to  certain  offences,  and  threatened  by  the 
hiw  of  Moses.  So  the  Apostle  himself  states  the  sub- 
ject—  "The  blood  of  bulls  and  goats,  and  the  ashes  of  a 
heifer,  sprinklin;^  those  who  were  defiled,  made  expiation 
in  respect  to  external  purity;"  that  is,  after  the  perform- 
ance of  such  sacrificial  rites,  the  Jews  were  regarded 
and  treated,  in  regard  to  their  external  relations,  as  pure, 
or  free  from  exposure  to  the  penalty  by  the  law  of  Moses. 
Heb.  ix,  13.  The  fact  just  stated,  cannot  be  called  in 
question.  We  have  only  to  open  the  book  of  Leviticus, 
and  it  is  at  once  exhibited  before  our  eyes." 

The  writers  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  were 
Jews,  and  the  scriptures,  with  very  little  exception,  were 
addressed  to  Jews,  or  to  churches  which  in  part  consisted 
of  Jews.  These  must  have  understood  the  meaning  of 
the  sacred  writers,  and  we  must  construe  their  language 
in  the  same  way  as  the  Jews  would  naturally  construe  it, 
who  lived  in  the  age  of  the  Prophets  and  Apostles. 
What  ideas,  then,  did  the  Prophets,  the  Apostles,  and  the 
Evangelists,  meun  to  convc v  ?  The  Jews  were  habitual- 
ly  conversant  with  expiatory  sacrifices  and  substitution. 


ATONEMENT.  113 

They  were  inwrought  into  the  very  nature  of  their  re- 
ligious worship;  and  all  the  scripture  language,  which 
has  respect  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  is  directly  borrowed 
from  that  which  was^every  day  read  by  the  Jews,  in 
speaking  of  the  sacrifices  that  they  were  required  to  offer. 
To  the  Jews,  God  said,  "the  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the 
blood ;  and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar  to  make 
an  atonement  for  your  souls:  for  it  is  the  blood  that  mak- 
eth  an  atonement  for  the  soul;"  Levit.  xvii,  11.  P^^ul 
to  the  Hebrews,  says,  that  *'  without  the  shedding  of  bliod 
there  is  no  remission,"  and  "  if  the  blood  of  bulls  and 
of  goats,  sanctified  to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh;  how  much 
more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who,  through  the  eternal 
Spirit,  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God,  purge  your 
conscience  from  dead  works,  to  serve  the  living  God?" 
Heb.  ix,  13,  14.  that  ib,  purify  your  hemt:  Acts  xv.  7-9. 
In  Isaiah,  it  is  asserted,  in  reference  to  Jesus  Christ,  "the 
chastisement  or  punishment  by  which  our  peace  is  pro- 
cured, was  laid  upon  him;  that  by  his  wounds  we  are 
healed;  that  all  we  have  gone  astray,  that  is,  sinned;  and 
that  Jehovah  hath  laid  upon  him  the  punishment  due  to 
us."  Isaiah  liii.  Other  parts  of  this  chapter  repeat  the 
same  idea.  "  For  the  transgression  of  my  people  was 
he  smitten;  v.  8;  his  soul  —  that  is,  he  was  made  an  of- 
fering for  sin;"  10;  "he  shall  justify  —  that  is,  procure 
pardon  for  many;  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities;"  11; 
"  he  bare  the  sin  of  many,  and  made  intercession  for  the 
transgressors;"  12.  In  what  sense  did  the  Jews  under- 
stand this  language  no  one  need  be  told.  Peter  quoted 
some  of  the  passages  that  I  have  just  cited.  Observe 
how  he  comments  on  the  sentiment,  "  Who  his  own  self 
bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  ;he  tree  *  *  *  by 
whose  stripes  we  are  healed."  1  Pet.  ii,  24.  Again, 
"We   were  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things     *     * 


114  ATONEMENT. 

but  by  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without 
blemish  and  without  spot.  1  Pet.  i,  18,  19.  John  the 
Baptist  also  exclaims,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  "^ — that  is,  the  victim, 
who,  by  divine  appointment,  is,  through  his  expiatory 
death,  to  procure  pardon  for  men.  John  i,  29.  So  the 
Apostle  John:  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin."  1  John  i,  1.  "  Who  is  the  propitiation, 
or  propitiatory  sacrifice,  for  our  sins;  and  not  for  ours 
only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world."  1  John 
ii,  2.  Paul  abounds  everywhere  with  the  most  glowing 
sentiments  in  respect  to  this  great  point.  "  For  he  hath 
made  him  to  be  sin  —  that  is,  a  sin-ofFering  —  for  us,  who 
knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of 
God,  in  him."  2  Cor.  v,  21-2.  "Christ,  our  passoyer, 
is  sacrificed  for  us:"  1  Cor.  v,  7.  "In  whom  we  have 
redemption,  in  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sin."  Eph. 
i,  7.  ."  Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the 
redemption  that  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  whom  God  hath  set 
forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to 
declare  his  righteousness  —  that  is,  for  the  manifestation 
of  his  pardoning  mercy -^— for  the  remission  of  sins  *  * 
that  he  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  be- 
lieveth  in  Jesus."     Rom  iii,  24-26. 

This  last  quotation  deserves  particular  notice.  It  is  as- 
serted by  some  of  the  objectors  to  the  atonement,  that  "  if 
sinners  are  justified  by  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ, 
or  through  him,  as  our  expiatory  sacrifice,  there  is  no  use 
for  faith;  for  if  Christ  becomes  the  surety  of  sinners, 
and  bears  the  punishment  due  to  sin  —  sinners  are  clear 
whether  they  believe  or  not  that  he  die.l  for  them:  —  that 
the  sinners  faith  produces  no  effect  whatever,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  his  justification.  And  that,  in  short,  if  Christ  made 
an  atODement,  there  is  no  gratuitous  justification  or  for- 


ATONEMENT.  115 

giveness  at  all  in  the  case:  the  debt  due,  they  say,  was 
fully  paid  by  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  and 
therefore  there  is  nothing  to  forgive,  or  from  which,  a 
person  can  be  freely  justijfied  by  grace  throuo-h  faith." 
This  objection  arises  from  regarding  the  atonement  sim- 
ply in  a  commercial,  and  not  in  a  moral,  governmental 
point  of  view.  God,  in  the  constitution  and  establish- 
ment of  his  system  of  salvation  to  man,  had  a  right  to 
limit  the  acquittal  and  pardon  of  the  sinner  as  he  saw  fit. 
Agreeably  to  the  Gospel,  he  '\justifies  us  freely  by  his 
grace,  through  the  redemption  there  is  in  Christ  Jesus, 
lohom  he  has  set  forth  to  he  a  propitiation  through  faith 
in  his  hlood.'^''  The  death  of  Christ  is,  by  the  divine  con- 
stitution of  things,  the  foundation  of  this  system  of  grace 
and  love.  It  is  inwrought  into  its  very  essence,  and  is 
essential  to  its  existence,  so  that  there  is  no  Gospel  with- 
out the  atonement.  Take  away  the  death  of  Christ 
and  all  its  consequences,  as  they  have  been  manifested 
in  the  divine  purpose,  and  by  the  conduct- of  God,  in  all 
that  he  has  said  and  done  since  the  fall  of  man,  in  prom- 
ises and  prophecies  and  institutions  of  worship,  and  in  all 
that  he.  is  now  doing,  and  will  hereafter  do,  as  revealed 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  we  have  annihilated 
all  spiritual  and  religious  knowledge.  Agreeably  to  the 
objections  above  noticed,  the  fact  of  the  expiatory  suffer- 
ings and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  view  of  those  who 
entertain  them,  supercede  the  necessity  of  faith  and  re- 
pentance, and  also  the  remission  of  sin  through  his  blood; 
whereas  they  are  the  foundation,  and  the  only  foundation 
agreeably  to  the  Gospel,  upon  which  faith,  remission  and 
repentance  are  based.  Those  who  foster  the  above  ob- 
jection to  the  atonement,  preach  grace  and  faith  without 
the  expiatory  sacrifice,  and  atonement  of  Christ.  They 
preach  that  God  is  in  Christ,  reconciling   the  world  to 


116  ATONEMENT. 

himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them,  and 
they  beseech  sinners,  in  Christ's  stead  to  l<e  ret*  nciled  to 
God,  because  God  ha<h  not  made  Christ  to  he  a  sin  offer- 
ing for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  him.  They  thus  preach  reconciiiation,  and  the 
righre')usness  of  God  without.,  and  in  opposition  to  Chiist's 
havmg  been  made  a  sin-offerin;,^!  And  thus,  they  seem 
to  me  to  preach  grace  and  faith  and  salvation,  upon  prin- 
ciples  which  are  in  direct  opposition  to  that  one  upon 
which,  God,  in  the  Gospel  has  placed  them.  They  be- 
lieve that  God  ivho  is  above  law,  communicates  grace 
without  regard  to  law,  and  without  Christ  having  re- 
deemed sinners  from  the  curse  of  the  law! 

The  appointment  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  fict 
of  it,  must  be  distinguished  from  its  effects  in  the  econo- 
my of  divine  grace.  His  dearh  is  one  thing,  and  our 
reconciliation  to  God  by  it  is  another,  as  his  death  is  one 
thmg,  and  the  preaching  of  repentance  and  remission  of 
sin  are  another. 

The  incarnation  of  the  Word,  and  the  sufferings  and 
dea^h  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  resurrection  and  his  offering 
himself  once  for  all,  as  an  expiatory  sacrifice  to  God,  vfe:e 
appointed  by  God  in  the  scheme  of  redemption  and  sal- 
vation. God  prepared  a  body  for  him,  for  that  very  pur- 
pose. After  Christ  rose  from  the  dead  and  ascended  to 
heaven,  he  offered  his  crucified  body  to  God  as  a  sacrifice 
for  us.  This  he  did  as  our  High  Priest,  and  it  was  ac- 
cepted; and  this  is  the  reason  why  repentance  and  re- 
mission of  sin  are  preached  and  bestowed  among  all  na- 
tions. Ch'ist  was  exalted  through  his  own  blood  a  Prince 
and  Saviour,  to  give  repentance  and  remission  of  sins. 
This  IS  the  reason  why  Paul  preached  'hrough  him,  the 
forgiveness  of  sins,  unJ  ^leciared  that  by  him,  all  th.it  be- 
lieve are  justified  from  all  things.     Acts  xiii,  38,  39. 


ATONEMENT.  117 

Why  is  Christ  now  highly  exalted  in  the  mediatorial 
throne,  and  why  has  he  a  name  given  to  him  which  is 
above  every  name,  and  has  all  power  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,  but  because  he  humbled  himself  and  became  obe- 
dient unto  death,  the  death  of  the  cross?  Why  is  God  in 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself  by  the  Gospel, 
and  not  imputing  unto  them  their  trespasses,  but  because 
he  hath  made  him  to  be  a  sin-offering  for  us,  that  we 
might  be  .made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him?  Phil, 
ii,  7-11.     2  Cor.  V,  18-21. 

The  character  and  office  of  Jesus  Christ  as  our  sacri- 
fice and  High  Priest  were,  and  are,  necessarily  connect- 
ed with  what  he  said  as  our  teacher,  and  with  what  he 
suffered  as  a  martyr,  when  he  sealed  his  testimony  with 
his  blood.  All  the  gracious  communications  and  bles- 
sings which  God  has  made  to,  and  bestowed  upon  our 
guilty  world,  since  man  fell,  have  been  in  reference  to, 
and  through,  Christ  crucified.  Without  him,  we  can  nei- 
ther know  nor  do  any  thing,  as  without  faith  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  please  God.  Christ  is  the  author  and  finisher  of 
our  faith,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  right- 
eousness, and  sanctification,  and  redemption.  All  the 
duties  that  God  requires  of  us  to  perform,  he  requires  of 
us  to  perform  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  j  as  by  that 
we  obtain  the  righteousness  of  God,  and  are  interested 
in  the  divine  favour.  We  are  justified  through  faith  in 
his  blood,  and  the  just  by  faith  shall  live. 

The  death  of  Christ  was  an  event  in  the  divine  gov- 
ernment, and,  as  a  transaction  in  it  between  God  and 
man,  was, most  stupendous  and  wonderful.  Its  effects 
are  eternal.  —  It  was  indeed,  a  mystery  until  it  was  re- 
vealed. When  Christ  expired  on  the  cross — rose  from 
the  dead  —  and  ascended  into  heaven-^ he  changed  the 
state  of  the  universe!  He  exhibited  the  most  awful  ex- 
II 


118 


ATONEMENT. 


pression  of  God's  hatred  to  sin,  and  of  its  infinite  demerits, 
and  God's  unspeakable  love  to  sinners.  The  death  of 
Christ,  which  was  produced  by  our  sins,  abolished  death. 
Through  his  cross,  God  reconciles  the  world  unto  himself, 
not  imputing  their  trespasses  to  them.  By  the  blood  of 
Christ,  which  was  shed  in  consequence  of  the  punishment 
of  our  sins  being  laid  upon  him,  our  sins,  through  faith  in 
him  are  remitted,  and  we  receive  the  promise  of  the 
Spirit,  and  are  received  into  the  divine  favour,  and  are 
made  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ. 
The  expiatory  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  in  our 
nature,  and  his  offering  of  himself  to  God  as  a  sin  offer- 
ing, were  essential  to  God's  making  him  both  "  Lord  and 
Christ,"  as  they  are  to  his  present  glory  and  to  the  exis- 
tence of  the  christian  religion  in  the  world .  A  true  be- 
lief of  these  things  is  essential  to  a  christian,  as  they 
are  to  the  formation  of  the  christian  character.  While 
the  eternal  Word,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  offered  in 
our  nature  an  expiatory  sacrifice,  through  which,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  faith,  repentance,  and  remission  of  sin  are 
procured  and  preached,  the  cross  of  Christ  presents  to 
the  moral  feelings  and  sympathies  of  our  race,  the  only 
influence  that  can  change  the  heart  and  excite  it  to  piety 
and  virtue,  and  inspire  it  with  love  to  God  and  to  holiness, 
and  with  opposition  to  sin. 

The  blessings  of  the  New  Covenant  originated  in  the 
sovereign  grace  of  God,  but  they  come  to  us  through  the 
redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  It  is  through  the  re- 
demption that  is  in  his  blood,  that  we  liave  the  forgive- 
ness ofsifis,  according  to  the  riches  of  God's  grace:  Eph. 
i,  7.  The  true  knowledge  of  God  is  the  knowledge  of 
his  glory  in  the  face  of  Christ:  2  Cor.  iv,  6:  whom  he 
hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith  in  his 
blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of 


ATONEMENT.  119 

sins:  llom.  iii,  25.  And  herein  he  appears  to  be  a  just 
God  and  a  Saviour;  Isa.  xlv,  21.  It  is  this  discovery  of 
God,  that  begets  in  the  soul  that  reve'rence  and  godly 
fear  of  him,  and  supreme  love  to  him,  which  is  his  law 
written  in  the  heart,  and  the  principle  of  all  true  obedi- 
ence to  it:  1  John  iv,  9,.  10,  19,  1  Tim.  i,  5,  John  xiv,  23. 
Though  the  remission  of  sins  was  procured  for  all 
true  believers  according  to  the  New  Covenant,  when 
Christ  offered  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  yet  they  do  not  re- 
ceive £Lnd  enjoy  that  blessing  till  ihey  believe  the  Gospel; 
for  it  is  by  faith  in  Chrisfs  blood  that  they  receive  remis- 
sion of  sins,  and  are  justified  from  all  things  (Acts  x, 
43:  xiii,  38,  39);  and  being  justified  by  faith,  they  have 
peace  with  God  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  Rom.  v, 
1,  It  is  objected  by  some,  to  the  vicarious  sufferings  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  expiatory  offering,  that  what  is  said 
of  him  in  these  respects  is  merely  by  way  of  allusion  to 
the  sacrifices  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  is  only  figurative. 
This  is  a  denial,  or  subversion  of  the  whole  scripture 
record  on  the  subject.  Paul  says,  that  "  the  law  itself  was 
a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  and  not  the  very  im- 
age of  the  things  (Heb.  x,  1);  that  the  gifts  offered  by  the 
priests,  according  to  the  law,  served  unto  the  example 
and  shadow  of  heavenly  things,  as  Moses  was  admon- 
ished of  God  (Heb.  viii,  4,  5);  that  is,  the  Levitical  priest- 
hood was  a  shadow  of  the  priesthood  of  Christ." 

Nothing  can  be  more  explicit  or  determinate  than  the 
following  passage:  ^^Itisnot  possible  that  the  blood  of 
bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away  sin.  Wherefore,  when 
he  (Christ)  cometh  into  the  world,  he  saith.  Sacrifice  and 
offering"  i.  e.  of  bulls  and  of  goats  "thou  wouldst  not, 
but  a  body  hast  thou  prepared  me.  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy 
will,  O  God.  By  the  which  will,  we  are  sanctified  through 
the  offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  once  for  all." 


120  ATONEMENT. 

Heb.  X,  4,  5,  7,  9,  10.  If  the  Old  Covenant  and  iaw  of 
Moses,  and  animal  offerings,  were  a  shadow  of  good 
things  to  come,  where  is  the  substance,  or  the  good  things 
themselves,  if  not  found  in  the  New  Covenant,  in  the  of- 
fering of  the  body  of  Christ  and  the  Gospel? 


ESSAY    VIL 


TRINITY. 


The  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  of  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Spirit  in  Jehovah,  is  essential  to  the  exist- 
ence of  the  christian  religion,  as  is  the  atonement;  so 
that  we  cannot  say,  that  we  have  the  Trinity  and  the 
atonement,  and  the  christian  religion.  These,  in  their 
effects  and  consequences,  in  the  developments  they  make 
of  the  divine  existence  and  character,  are  the  christian 
religion.  The  defenders  and  opposers  of  the  atonement 
and  Trinity,  from  the  beginning  of  the  controversies  on 
these  subjects,  have  been  natural-religionists  —  that  is, 
they  have  professed  to  know  God  without  revelation.  The 
assumptions  and  concessions  which  have  been  made  on 
both  sides  of  the  question,  in  favour  of  natural  religion, 
have  superseded  or  destroyed  the  necessity  of  the  atone- 
ment and  Trinity,  as  they  ever  have  been  employed 
since  the  fall  of  man,  in  the  manifestation  of  the  exist- 
ence and  character  of  God  to  our  guilty  world. 

The  fact  of  the  atonement,  or  of  the  vicarious  suffer- 
ings and  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Trinity,  of 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  in  one  Jehovah,  are  of 
pure  revelation,  as  is  the  knowledge  of  God.  The  per- 
sonal manifestations  of  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  are 
essential  to  the  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  God  as  he 
is  revealed  in  the  scriptures,  and  as  he  ever  has  been 
known  to  our  world  since  the  fall  of  man. 
11  * 


122  TRINITY. 

The  fall  of  man  lost  for  him  the  knowledge  of  God, 
and  the  communion  with  him  which  he  possessed  and  en- 
joyed before  he  sinned.  Since  that  period,  "in  the  wis- 
dom of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  has  not  known  him; 
the  only  begotten  Son,. who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
has  revealed  him,"  through  the  atonement.  All  the  di- 
vine communications  and  manifestations  which  have  been 
made  to  man  by  God,  since  the  fall,  have  been  made  to 
him  as  a  sinner,  and  have  had  reference  to  the  atone- 
ment; and  have  been  made  by  the  Triune  God,  in  a 
way  that  was  suited  to  man's  fallen  state :  and  in  refer- 
ence to  his  redemption  and  salvation. 

This  is  not  a  subject  of  doubtful  disputation.  There 
is  a  short  and  easy  method  of  proving  the  truth,  and  the 
necessity  of  the  atonement  and  of  the  Trinity,  to  the  ex- 
istence of  the  christian  religion,  which  is  the  perfection 
of  all  religion. 

If  we  exclude  the  expiatory  sufferings  and  death  of 
Jesus  Christ,  which  is  the  atonement,  and  all  that  has 
been  said  and  done  by  God  in  reference  to  it  since  the 
fall,  and  in  consequence  of  it  since  his  death,  we  shall 
find,  that  there  has  not  been  any  religion,  or  any  know- 
ledge of  God  since  the  fall,  except  what  Adam  might 
have  remembered  of  what  he  knew  before  and  at  the  fall. 
There  could  have  been  no  worship  of  God  for  a  sinner, 
derived  from  what  Adam  knew  from  this  source,  because 
there  was  no  mercy  or  grace  in  it. 

If  we  exclude  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  or  either  of 
them,  and  all  that  has  been  said  and  done  by  them,  and  in 
reference  to  them,  and  concerning  them,  in  the  revela- 
tions that  have  been  made,  which  are  found  recorded  in 
the  Bible,  and  which  exist  in  the  traditions  of  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  we  shall  not  have  left  one  single  idea  of 
Gcd,  or  one  spiritual  religious  thought.     Any  person  who 


TRlNlTt.  128 

is  at  all  acquainted  with  his  own  mind  and  its  dependence 
upon  external  information  for  its  ideas,  can  make  the  ex- 
periment. For  example,  exclude  from  the  mind  the  Fa- 
ther, who  so  loved  tho»  world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten 
Son  to  redeem  it,  and  all  that  we  are  informed  of  his  love 
and  will,  and  of  what  he  said  and  did  at  and  since  the  fall, 
and  is  now  doing,  and  there  is  nothing  left  of  spiritual 
knowledge  or  divine  worship.  Exclude  the  Word  or  the 
So9i,  and  all  that  has  been  said  and  done  by  him,  and  con- 
cerning him  in  creation,  promises  and  prophecies,  and 
divine  institutions,  before  his  incarnation  and  advent;  and 
exclude  all  tiiat  has  been  said  and  done  by  him,  and  con- 
cerning him  since,  and  what  he  is  now  doing  and  will 
hereafter  do,  and  we  have  again  blotted  out  every  thing 
concerning  God  and  religion-,  which  has  been  known  since 
the  fall.  Our  Christianity,  and  all  that  went  before  it  in 
promises  and  prophecies,  in  types  and  shadows,  are  an- 
nihila.ted,  as  is  the  knowledge  o[  the  fact  of  creation. 
Finally,  exclude  the  Holy  Spirit  in  all  that  he  has  said 
and  done  by  way  of  manifestation  concerning  the  Father, 
end  the  Son,  and  man's  salvation,  and  we  have  again  ex- 
tinguished the  whole  system  of  spiritual  thought  and 
knowledge.     There  is  not  a  name  or  an  idea  of  God  left. 

All  this  proves  that  the  existence,  offices  and  agencies 
of  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  whose  personal  mani- 
festations have  been  made  through  the  atonement,  are 
necessary  to  the  knowledge  of  the-  one  true  God,  and  to 
religious  worship . 

Idolatry,  in  every  period  of  the  world,  has  been  owing 
to  the  corruption  ef  original  divine  revelations  and  insti- 
tutions, as  all  falsehoods  have  been  perversions  or  cor- 
ruptions of  truth.  Whether,  therefore,  men  will,  or  will 
not,  acknowledge  that  there  is  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spir- 
it in  the   one  living  and  true   God,  they  have,  and  can 


184  TRINITY. 

have,  no  knowledge  of  God,  without  the  Trinity  in  unity; 
nor  have  they  any  right  to  believe  in  God,  nor  to  worship 
him,  nor  can  they,  without  this  doctrine  and  its  effects. 
The  existence  of  rehgion  in  the  world,  and  particularly 
the  christian  religion,  cannot  be  accounted  for  but  by  the 
fact  of  the  existence  and  agencies  of  the  Trinity,  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Spirit.  These  are  all  objects  of  faith.  I 
mean,  that  they  are  made  known,  not  by  nature,  but  by 
revelation  alone,  in  words  and  supernatural  works.  They 
are  all  objects  of  faith,  as  the  doctrine  revealed  concern- 
ing them  is  the  doctrine  of  failh.  They  are  all  revealed 
by  God,  in  that  system  of  truth  which  is  embodied  in. his 
word.  I  will  further  state,  that,  agreeably  to  the  result 
of  the  former  investigation,  if  we  exclude  the  words  and 
sentences,  the  facts  and  statements,  which  compose  the 
word  or  the  revelations  of  God,  and  all  the  ideas,  thoughts, 
sentiments  and  feelings,  which  have  been  produced  by 
them,  relative  to  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  we 
have  again  destroyed  every  thing  that  relates  to  God  and 
religion  in  the  mind  of  man.  Idolatry  itself  will  be  de- 
stroyed, as  that  is  a  corruption  of  an  original,  true  reve- 
lation, and  we  shall  be  involved  in  Atheism. 

A  desire  that  the  subject  of  the  Trinity  shall  be  fairly 
and  fully  investigated,  induces  me  to  introduce  a  dialogue 
here  between  a  Unitarian  and  a  Christian,  in  which  the 
different  views  and  arguments  can  be  more  plainly  and  sat- 
isfactorily exhibited. 

Unitarian.  —  I  object  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
because  it  subverts  the  unity  of  God,  which  is  so  clearly 
asserted  in  the  scriptures:  "To  us  there  is  one  God,  and 
one  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ  Je- 
sus. "  According  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  there  are 
three  infinite  and  equal  persons,  possessing  supreme  di- 


TRINITY.  125 

vinity,  called  Father,  Word  or  Son ,  and  Holy  Spirit.  Each 
of  these  three  persons,  as  described  by  Trinitarians,  has 
his  own  peculiar  consciousness,  will,  perceptions  and  ac- 
tions. They  exist  in  a  state  of  society  —  they  love  each 
other,  converse  with  each  other,  and  delight  in  each  oth- 
er's company.  They  perform  different  parts  in  man's  re- 
demption, each  having  his  appropriate  offices,  and  neither 
doing  the  work  of  the  other;  the  Son  is  the  mediator,  and 
not  the  Father;  the  Father  sends  the  Son,  and  is  not  him- 
self sent;  nor  is  he  conscious  like  the  Son,  of  being  made 
flesh;  and  the  Father  and  the  Son  send  the  Holy  Ghost. 
And  thus  we  have,  indeed,  three  persons  who  are  three 
Gods ;  for  it  is  a  difference  in  properties,  acts  and  con- 
sciousness, which  indicate  the  existence,  and  lead  us  to  the 
belief,  of  different  intelligent  beings. 

I  am  aware,  that  there  are  two  or  three  texts,  and  per- 
haps a  few  more,  of  scripture,  in  which  Jesus  Christ  is 
called  God,  and  there  is  a  class  of  passages,  not  very  nu- 
merous, which  seem  to  ascribe  divine  properties  to  him. 
To  these,  however,  I  reply,  that  "  one  of  the  most  obvi- 
ous principles  of  interpretation  of  scripture  is,  that  lan- 
guage is  to  be  explained  according  to  the  known  proper- 
ties of  the  subjects  to  which  it  is  applied.  These  portions 
of  scripture,  in  ichich  Jesus  Christ  is  called  God,  and 
divine  properties  are  ascribed  to  him,  we  do  not  hesitate 
to  modify  and  restrain,  and  turn  them  from  their  plain 
.  and  obvious  sense,  because  this  sense  is  opposed  to  tht 
known  properties  and  nature  of  Jesus  Christ?"^ 

CjaRisTiAN.  —  The  account  you  have  given  of  the  Trin- 
ity, is  Hot  altogether  consistent  with  the  views  of  those 
who  believe  in  that  doctrine.  Indeed,  you  have  done 
great  injustice  in  some  respects  to  their  sentiments.  \\\ 
the  essential  unity  of  God,  Trinitarians  believe,  while 
they  believe  in  the  personal   manifestations  of  Fa  her, 


126  TRINITY. 

Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  in  Jehovah;  these  they  believe  be- 
cause they  are  revealed.  Unitarians  are  as  much  bound 
to  retain,  and  use,  and  appropriate  the  scripture  phraseol- 
ogy, in  which  the  name  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit, 
with  their  adjuncts,  is  used  as  expressive  of  existences, 
qualifies,  and  actions,  as  Trinitarians  are. 

You  acknowledge,  that  there  are  passages  of  scripture 
in  which  Jesus  Christ  is  called  God,  and  some  which  as- 
cribe divine  properties  to  him.  This  is  the  reason  why  1 
say  he  is  God.  These,  however,  you  say.  Unitarians  do 
not  hesitate  to  modify,  resti-ain,  and  turn  from  their  obvi- 
ous and  plain  sense  and  meaning,  because  this  sense  and 
meaning  are  opposed  to  the  knoivn  properties  of  Jesus 
Christ.  You,  then,  admit  that  according  to  their  plain 
sense  and  meaning  Christ  is  God.  But,  I  ask  you,  what 
do  you  know  of  the  nature  and  properties  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  of*  God,  without  revelation,  or  independent  of  the 
words  and  works  of  God;  independent  of  the  sense  and 
meaning  of  God's  word?  I  insist  upon  your  answering 
this  question  before  we  proceed  any  further.  If  you  de- 
sign to  reject  the  word  of  God,  as  the  only  means  of  in- 
formation and  faith  in  spiritual  and  religious  matters, 
6ay  so,  and  our  investigation  will  be  at  an  end — and  you 
must  return  to  the  first  dialogue. 

Unitarian.  —  The  first  essays,  and  the  first  dialogue, 
have  established  the  necessity  of  revelation  in  supernat- 
ural words  and  works,  in  learning  spiritual  and  divine 
existences  and  things.  I  have  been  so  much  in  the  habit 
of  regarding  natural  religion  as  true,  and  considering  it 
as  the  foundation  of  the  revealed,  that  it  has  exerted  an 
influence  upon  my  mind,  perhaps  not  altogether  just  and 
proper,  in  forming  my  views  of  the  nature  and  character 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and,  indeed,  of  the  Trinity.  If  we  ex- 
clude all  that  we  learn  from  revelation  of  him,  we  shall, 


TRINITY.  127 

of  necessity,  be  compelled  to  regard  him  as  Socinians  and 
Deists  do,  as  nothing  more  than  a  man,  if  we  could  know 
any  thing  of  him  at  all.  And  if  we  view  him  under 
the  light  of  revelation  ^alone,  it  seems  to  me,  that  we 
ought  to  admit  it  in  the  full  extent  of  its  grammatical  and 
historical  meaning.  I  admit  the  Bible  to  be  a  revelation 
from  God,  and  that  it  teaches  original  ideas.  This  waa 
formerly  proven. 

Christian.  —  There  can  be  no  compromise  of  any 
question  that  may  arise  relative  to  the  atonement  or  the 
Trinity.  These  doctrines,  in  their  various  operations, 
manifestations,  and  effects,  are  Christianity  itself.  Jesu3 
Christ  is  the  light  of  the  world,  and  has  all  power  in  heav- 
en and  in  earth,  and  a  sinner  is  justified  by  faith  in  him. 
He  is  the  only  Saviour,  and  it  is  necessary  that  we  have 
true  views  of  his  nature  and  character.  But  what  is  he 
without  divinity  and  the  atonement?  And  what  do  you 
know  of  these,  or  of  any  thing  else  appertaining  to  him, 
without  revelation?  Revelation  makes  known  existences 
and  things  by  nouns,  verbs  and  adjectives,  which  are  not 
known  without  them. 

All  the  known  properties  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  enter 
into  his  nature  and  character  as  Messiah,  and  as  the  Sa- 
viour of  sinners  are  manifested  by  revelation,  and  of 
course,  whatever  Unitarians,  Arians,  Socinians  and  Deists 
do,  to  modify,  restrain,  and  turn  from  their  obvious  and 
plain  sense  and  meaning,  the  passages  of  scripture  which 
denominate  Jesus  Christ,  God,  and  ascribe  to  him  divine 
properties,  is  a  flagrant  violation  and  corruption  of  the 
truth :  "  No  man  knoweth  the  Son  but  the  Father,  and 
no  man  knoweth  the  Father  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whom 
he  shall  reveal  him.  *  *  *  This  is  eternal  life,  that 
they  might  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent."     We  all  agree  that  the  evi- 


128  TRINITY. 

dences  of  the  divine  unity  in  the  New  Testament  are 
sufficient;  and  yet  the  passages  that  assert  it,  are  as  few 
or  fewer,  than  are  those  which  assert  or  imply  that  Christ 
is  truly  God.  Unitarians,  according  to  your  statement, 
will  receive  nothing  from  revelation,  nor  believe  any 
thing  taught  by  it,  but  in  a  sense  which  is  according  to 
what  they  previously  knew  without  it.  Agreeably  to  this 
view,  revelation  can  teach  nothing  that  they  did  not  know 
before. 

The  personal  manifestation  of  God  the  Word,  his  in- 
carnation, his  mediatorial  character  and  offices,  the  life, 
6uffi3rings  and  death,  the  resurrection  and  the  present  glo- 
ry of  Jesus  Christ,  the  existence  and  agency  of  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  our  own  resurrection  and 
future  existence,  and  all  the  blessings  and  privileges  that 
appertain  to  the  New  Covenant,  cannot  be  believed,  or 
received  by  Unitarians,  agreeably  to  your  principle  of  in- 
terpretation;  because  there  is  nothing  previously  known 
of  them  without  the  revelation  by  which  they  are  mani- 
fested! Religion  is  not  of  human  invention,  and  God  has 
left  no  ground  or  occasion  for  any  original ,  or  new  discov- 
eries in  religion.  The  whole  system  was  completed  when 
the  last  inspired  penman  wrote.  The  Unitarian,  or  Arian 
controversy  about  the  Trinity,  began  in  the  fourth  centu- 
ry. And  1  have  no  doubt  but  that  error  existed  on.  both 
sides  of  the  question.  Had  the  disputants  confined  them- 
selves to  scriptural  language,  and  to  scriptural  statements, 
and  excluded,  Platonic  philosophy,  and  Platonic  Christian- 
ity altogether,  which  taught  the  notion  that  the  knowledge 
of  God  was  innate,  when  talking  on  the  subject,  the  di- 
vision with  all  its  consequences  which  took  place,  could 
not  have  occurred.  I  desire  to  verify  what  I  have  now 
said,  by  exhibiting  the  Nicenc  Creed  as  published  by  the 
Council  of  Nice,  and  also  the  Arian  Creed,  as  opposed  to 


TRI5ITT.  129 

it.  From  these  I  think  it  will  appear  that  they  both  erred, 
and  that  had  they  been  contented  with  the  statements  in 
the  word  of  God,  there  could  have  been  no  division. 

The  Arian  controversy  about  the  Trinity,  began  in  a 
dispute  between  Alexander  and  Arius,  two  Bishops  of 
Alexandria  in  Egypt.  Alexander  affirmed,  that  there  was 
"  unity  in  the  Trinity,  and  particularly  that  the  Son  was 
co-eternal,  and  consubstantial,  and  of  the  same  dignity  with 
the  Father."  Arius  objected  to  this  language,  and  as- 
serted, that  "  if  the  Father  begat  the  Son,  he  who  was  be- 
gotten must  have  a  beginning  of  his  existence;  and  from 
hence,  said  he,  it  is  manifest  there  was  a  time  when  the 
Son  was  not."  Religion  was  at  that  time  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Constantino  the  Great,  who  had  taken  its  or- 
thodoxy into  his  own  keeping.  Under  the  pretext  of  sup- 
porting divine  truth,  Bishops  were  exasperated  against 
Bishops,  and  all  Christendom  became  involved  in  a  flame. 
They  set  the  people  together  by  the  ears  with  so  much  vi- 
olence, as  to  give  occasion  to  the  heathen  to  ridicule  the 
Christian  Religion  upon  the  public  theatres. 

In  the  year  325,  June  19th,  the  Great  Council  of  Nice 
was  called,  by  the  authority  of  Constantino,  and  contin- 
ued its  discussions  until  August  25th  of  the  same  year, 
when  they  drew  up  and  published  the  following  Creed  — 

"We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  all  things,  visible  and  invisible.  And  in  one  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  the  only  begotten;  begot- 
ten of  the  Father,  that  is,  of  the  substance  of  the  Fa- 
ther; God  of  God;  light  of  light;  true  God  of  true  God; 
begotten  not  made;  consubstantial  with  the  Father,  by 
whom  all  things  were  made,  things  in  heaven  and  things 
in  the  earth;  who  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation  came 
down  and  was  incarnate  and  became  man;  suffered,  and 
rose  again  the  third  day  and  ascended  into  the  heavens, 
12 


130  TRINITY. 

and  will  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead;  and  in 
the  Holy'Ghost.  And  the  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church 
doth  anathematize  those  persons  who  say,  that  there  was 
a  time  when  the  Son  of  God  was  not;  that  he  was  not 
before  he  was  born ;  that  he  was  made  of  nothing  or  of 
another  substance  or  being,  or  that  he  is  created  or  change- 
able."    This  is  the  Nicene  Creed. 

Arius,  in  his  letter  to  Eusebius  of  Nicodemia,  says, 
"  We  cannot  assent  to  these  expressions,  always  Father, 
always  Son ;  at  the  same  time  Father  and  Son ;  that  the 
Son  always  existed  with  the  Father;  that  the  Father  had 
no  pre-existence  before  the  Son,  not  so  much  as  in  thought 
or  a  moment.  But  we  teach,  that  the  Son  is  not  unbegot- 
ten  or  a  part  of  the  unbegotten.  Nor  is  he  made  out  of 
any  pre-existent  thing;  but  by  the  will  and  pleasure  of 
the  Father  he  existed  before  time  and  ages,  the  only  be- 
gotten God,  unchangeable,  and  that  before  he  was  begot- 
ten or  made,  or  designed,  or  formed,  he  was  not.  But  we 
are  persecuted  because  we  say,  that  the  Son  has  a  begin- 
ning, and  that  God  has  no  beginning.  For  this  we  are 
persecuted,  and  because  we  say  the  Son  is  out  of  no- 
thing; which  we,  therefore,  say,  because  he  is  not  a  part 
of  God,  nor  made  out  of  any  pre-existent  thing."  The 
Creed  presented  by  Arius  at  the  Council  of  .Jerusalem  in 
335,  was  the  following  —  "We  believe  in  one  God,  the 
Father  Almighty,  and  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ  his  Son, 
begotten. of  him  before  all  ages,  God  the  Word,  by  whom 
all  things  were  made,  which  are  in  heaven  and  in  earth; 
who  came  down  and  was  incarnate,  and  suffered  and  rose 
again,  and  ascended  to  the  heavens,  and  shall  come  again 
to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead;  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost; 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead ;  in  one  Catholic  Church  of 
God,  extending  itself  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the 
other." 


TRINITY.  13L 

You  have  now  the  Nicene  and  Arian  Creeds  exhibited 
before  you,  from  which  it  appears,  that  the  whole  contro- 
very  originated  from  the  use  of  an  unscriptural  expres- 
sion relative  to  Jesus  Christ,  or  rather  the  Logos  or  Word. 
It  was  asserted  on  the  one  hand,  that  he  was  the  eternally 
begotten  Son  of  God,  co-eternal  and  consubstantial,  and 
of  the  same  dignity  with  the  Father.  On  the  other,  it 
was  asserted  by  Arius  as  appears  by  the  above  document 
and  others,  that  Jesus  Christ,  God's  Son,  was  begotten  of 
God  before  all  ages,  previous  to  which  he  had  no  exis- 
tence, and  was,  after  being  begotten,  God  the  Word,  the 
only  begotten  God,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  and 
was  afterwards  incarnate.  In  his  nature  and  character, 
he  was  as  a  superangelical  Spirit,  and  came  from  heaven 
to  inhabit  a  body  which  was  prepared  for  him  in  the  womb 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  alone  the  soul  that  informed 
and  enlivened  it,  and  was  in  the  place  of  a  human  soul 
in  Christ. 

Both  sides  asserted  and  took  for  granted,  that  the  Logos 
or  Word,  who  was  in  the  beginning  God,  was  begotten. 
One  says,  that  he  was  the  eternally  begotten  Son;  the 
other  says,  that  he  was  begotten  in  eternity,  and  on  that 
account  was  called  the  Son  of  God.  The  scriptures  nev- 
er say,  that  the  Word  was  begotten :  and  there  is  no  au- 
thority from  them  to  assert  it.  The  scriptures  say,  that 
^'  in  the  beginning  the  Word  was,  that  he  was  with  God 
and  was  God,  and  created  all  things  that  were  made.'' 
Here  they  leave  us .  We  are  not  informed  that  the  Word 
began  at  all.  The  scriptures  say,  that  the  Word  was 
made  flesh,  and  in  his  incarnate  state  manifested  his  glo- 
ry, as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace 
and  truth.  The  angel  Gabriel  informs  us  why  Jesus 
Christ  should  be  born  and  and  called  the  Son  of  God,  in 
his  communication  to  Mary:  —  "the  Holy  Ghost 


132  TRINITY. 

come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  highest  shall  over- 
shadow thee ;  therefore,  also,  that  holy  thing  which  shall 
be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God."  Luke 
i,  35.  This  had  no  reference  to  the  origin,  genera- 
tion, or  beginning  of  the  Word  himself  in  eternity,  who 
in  time  became  incarnate.  The  scriptures  say  nothing 
about  the  sonship  of  the  Word  in  eternity,  nor  in  time, 
but  in  reference  to  his  incarnation  in  the  economy  of  re- 
demption, the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead, 
and  hift  being  made  heir  of  all  things. 

In  the  beginning  the  Word  was  God;  he  was  God  in 
eternity;  and  I  would  ask,  in  what  did  his  essence  differ 
from  the  essence  of  God? 

Unitarian.  —  I  cannot  tell,  for  I  do  not  know,  because 
the  scriptures  do  not  inform  me.  This  is  an  over-whelm- 
ing subject  to  my  mind. 

Cheistian.  —  So  it  is  to'mine,  and  so  it  is  to  the  Angels 
in  glory.  I  cannot  tell  a  word  about  it  further  than  the 
word  of  God  informs  me.  The  Logos  began  time  by  cre- 
ating the  heavenly  bodies — before  that  all  was  eternity. 
He  began  creation  by  creating  the  first  thing  that  was 
made.  Unitarians  and  Trinitarians  agree  in  the  essen- 
tial unity  of  God,  and  neither  of  them  can  tell  anything 
more,  than  that  the  Word  existed  with  God  and  was  God. 
Of  his  mode  or  essence  of  being,  they  know  nothing. 
The  want  of  scripture  evidence,  that  the  Word  began  or 
was  begotten,  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  our  being  ignorant 
on  the  subject,  and  for  our  saying  nothing  about  them. 
The  Seraphim  vail  their  faces  before  him,  and,  instead 
of  speculating  about  his  beginning  or  essence,  cry  one 
to  another,  saying,  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory !  Isa.  vi,  2,  3,  John 
xii,  4L  Paul  says,  that  he  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
and  that,  of  the  fathers,  Abjraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  as 


I-RINITV.  133 

concerning  the  flesh  Christ  came,  who  is  over  al!,  God 
blessed  forever*     Amen."     Rom.  ix,  5. 

I  have  frequently  remarked,  that  the  existence  of  God 
is  an  object  of  faith,  as  I  formerly  proved.  The  unity  of 
God  can  no  more  be  proved  without  revelation  than  his 
existence  can  be;  and  the  existence  of  God  is  revealed 
by  the  Trinity.  Although  the  unity  of  God  is  a  scripture 
doctrine,  the  scriptures  have  no  where  told  us  what  the 
divine  unity  is.  The  oneness  of  God  they  assert.  But 
this  they  do  in  opposition  to  the  idols  of  the  heathen  — 
the  polytheism  of  the  Gentiles  —  the  god's  superior  and 
inferior,  which  they  worship.  In  no  other  sense  have  the 
scriptures  defined  the  oneness  of  the  Deity.  What,  then, 
is  oneness  in  the  uncreated,  infinite,  eternal  Being,  who 
is  omnipotent,  omniscient  and  omnipresent?  In  created 
and  finite  objects,  we  have  a  distinct  perception  of  what 
we  mean  by  oneness,  but  can  created  objects  be  just  and 
adequate  representations  of  the  uncreated  ones,  which  we 
only  know  by  faith.  Familiar  as  the  assertion  is,  that 
God  is  one,  can  you  give  me  any  definition  of  this  one- 
ness, except  a  negative  one?  You  deny  plurality  of  it, 
and  say  God  is  but  one  and  not  two  or  more.  Still,  I  ask, 
in  what  does  divine  unity  consist?  Has  not  God  differ- 
ent and  various  faculties  and  powers?  Is  he  not  almigh- 
ty, omniscient,  omnipresent,  holy,  just  and  good?  Does 
he  not  act  differently  or  variously  in  the  natural  and  the 
moral  world?  Does  his  unity  consist  appropriately  in 
his  essence?  But  what  is  the  essence  of  God?  And 
how  can  you  assert  that  his  unity  consists  appropriately 
in  this,  unless  you  know  what  his  essence  is,  and  whether 
oneness  can  be  any  better  predicated  of  this  than  of  his 
attributes?  Your  answer  to  all  this  is,  that  the  nature  of 
God  is  beyond  your  reach.  The  assertion,  then,  that  God 
Is  one,  does  nothing  more  than  deny  the  numerical  plu- 
12* 


134  TRINITT. 

rality  of  God.  Blind  Bartimeus  is  limited  in  his  know- 
ledge  of  light  by  what  he  is  taught,  and  so  are  you  in 
what  you  know  of  God  by  his  revelation.  Here  all  in- 
vestigation ends.  The  sense  and  meaning  of  the  words 
and  sentences  are  ultimate;  if  you  know  them,  you  know 
all  that  can  be  known  in  your  present  state.  You  can- 
not tell  what  constitutes  the  internal  nature  of  the  divine 
essence  or  attributes,  or  bow  they  are  related  to  each  oth- 
er, or  what  internal  distinctions  exist.  About  this  revela- 
tion says  nothing,  and  about  it,  for  that  reason,  we  can 
think  and  know  nothing,  and  ought  to  r^ay  nothing.  God 
is  one.  This  denies  polytheism  and  never  can  reach  be- 
yond this.  It  does  not  prove,  that  there  are  no  distinctions 
in  the  Godhead,  either  in  regard  to  attributes  or  essence^ 
the  nature  of  which  is  unknown  to  us,  and  the  existence 
of  which  is  to  be  manifested  and  shown  by  revelation 
alone.  And  yet,  after  that  distinction  is  revealed,  if  I 
be  required  to  say  what  it  consists  in,  I  reply,  that  I  do 
not  know  and  cannot  tell;,  but  I  find  no  more  difficulty 
in  believing  in  the  three-fold  distinction  in  the  godhead 
than  in  believing  in  the  divine  existence  and  unity. 
Without  the  personal  manifestation  and  distinction,  of  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  as  they  are  connected  \vith  the 
atonement,  and  without  their  effects  in  the  scriptural  enu- 
meration of  them,  1  could  not  have  the  knowledge  of  God 
at  all,  under  the  present  state  and  order  of  things,  as  far 
as  I  can  judge,  because  I  should  have  no  revelation. 

Resolving  all  into  scriptural  authority,  it  docs  appear  to 
me,  that  the  passages  are  at  least  as  numerous,  which  as- 
sert that  Christ  is  truly  divine,  as  they  are  which  assert 
the  divine  unity.  The  knowledge  of  the  one  true  God,  I 
repeat,  is  not  attainable  without  the  Trinity,  as  he  is 
known  to  our  world.  Take  away  either  of  the  persons, 
and  his  agencies  and  manifestations,  and  you  blot  out 
from  our  world  the  knowledge  of  the  one  God. 


TRINITY.  185 

Unitarians  and  Trinitarians  have  been  natural  religion- 
ists  since  the  controversy  commenced.  They  professed 
to  know  God,  without  revelation,  by  their  own  wisdom, 
and  then  formed  their  systems  to  suit  their  pre-conceived 
opinions.  This  was  the  cause  of  their  passion  and  vio- 
lence. The  enlightening,  purifying,  and  sanctifying  in- 
fluences of  the  Gospel  of  God's  grace,  through  which, 
God  manifests  himself,  as  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
were  lost,  by  that  Gospel  having  been  superseded  and 
nullified  by  their  false  philosophy  —  and  this  is  the  case 
now,  more  or  less,  with  all  the  natural  religionist  christian 
sects.  O,  what  rashness  marks  the  speculations  and  con- 
duct of  vain,  ignorant,  sinful  man,  who  dares  to  rush 
in  where  angels  fear  to  tread ! 

Unitarians  and  Trinitarians,  I  repeat,  agree  in  the  es- 
sential unity  of  God,  and  neither  of  them  can  tell  any- 
thing more,  than  that  the  Word  existed  with  God,  and 
was  God,  at  the  beginning.  Of  his  mode  or  essence  of 
being  they  know  nothing,  because  the  scriptures  tell  us 
nothing.  The  incarnation  of  the  Logos,  was  the  fulfill- 
ment of  the  declaration  of  the  word  of  God  by  Isaiah, 
"Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  and 
shall  call  his  name  Immanuel."  Isa.  vii,  14.  This,  com- 
pared with  Mat.  i,  21-23,  teaches  us,  that  Immanuel  is 
Jesus  the  Saviour,  God  with  us.  His  incarnation  was 
also  a  fulfillment  of  the  declaration  of  God,  Isa»  ix,  6, 
7 — "For  unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given, 
and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder,  and  his 
name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  Mighty 
God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Of  the 
increase  of  his  government  and  peace  there  shall  be 
no  end  upon  the  throne  of  David."  The  incarnation  of 
the  Word  is  a/aci,  but  of  the  how,  or  the  mode  of  that 
fact,  we  know  nothing :  "  Great  is  the  mystery  of  Goili«' 


136  TRINITY. 

nessj  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh."  He  is  denomi 
nated  "the  only  begotten  Son  of  God;  and  his  dearly 
beloved  Son." 

If  you  ask  me,  what  is  the  distinction  in  the  godhead 
between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  wherein  the  word  Son 
is  applied  to  the  incarnate  Word,  who  was  before  called 
God,  and  in  whom  the  fulness  of  the  godhead  dwells  bodi- 
ly?    1  answer,  that  I  do  not  know.     The  fact  that  a  dis- 
tinction exists,  is  what  the  scriptures  state;  the  definition 
of  that  distinction  is  what  I  shall  by  no  means  attempt. 
As  far  as  the  humanity  of  Christ,  or  the  faculties  and 
qualities  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus  are  concerned,  I  could 
exhibit  what  the  scriptures  predicate  of  him.     But  what 
shall  I,  or  can  I  define  the  incarnate  Logos  to  be?     What 
simile  drawn  from  created  objects  —  objects  of  time  which 
are  necessarily  derived  and   dependent,  —  can  illustrate 
the  nature  or  the  mode  of  the  existence  in  that  being  who 
is  their  Creator,  who  is  underived,  and  has  no  relation  to 
time  except  as  its  Creator  and  preserver;  who  was  in  the 
beginning  God ;  who  is  before   all  things,  and  by  whom 
they   consist?     I  cannot  advance  one  single   step   in  ex- 
plaining what  the  distinction  is,  between  the  Father  and 
the   Son.     I  believe  the  fact  that  it  exists,  as  much  as  1 
believe  the  fact  that  God  exists,  and  for  the  same  reason, 
because  it  is  revealed.     If  the  scriptures  reveal  the  fact, 
that  there  are  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  which  lays 
the  foundation  for  the  use  and  application  of  the  personal 
pronouns  /,  thou,  7te,  &c.,  which  render  it  proper  to  speak 
of  sending  and  being  sent,  of  Christ  being  with  God,  be- 
ing in  his  bosom,  and  other   things  of  the  like  nature,  it 
is  like  every  other  fact,  to  be  received  simply  on  the  cred- 
it of  divine  revelation;  and  so  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     The 
passages  which  assert  the  Father  and  the  son  to  be  one, 
and  the  Father  to  be  in  the  Son,  and  the  Son  in  the  Fa- 


TRINITY.  137 

ther,  are  to  be  believed  on  the  same  account,  and  they 
are  to  be  worshipped  in  that  relation. 

Although  the  sonship  of  Christ  always  includes  the 
Logos,  in  which  the  natural,  original,  and  essential  digni- 
ty of  his  person  consists,  yet  it  does  not  appear  from  any 
thing  that  I  can  see,  that  he  is  called  in  scripture  the  Son 
of  God,  merely  as  God,  or  on  account  of  his  being  the 
Logos,  or  to  teach  us  the  origin  or  manner  of  his  personal 
existence  in  the  Godhead ;  but  it  seems  to  be  applicable 
to  him  as  Immanuel,  the  Word  made  flesh,  or  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh. 

The  whole  Arian  controversy  seems  to  have  had  refer- 
ence to,  and  to  have  been  made  to  bear  upon,  the  essence 
of  Deity,  and  to  have  had  but  little  to  do  with  the  salva- 
tion of  man  and  spiritual  holiness.  Whereas,  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  and  of  the  atonement,  and  the  doctrines 
of  grace,  which  are  these  doctrines  extended,  and  applied  to 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  man's  salvation,  are  not  in- 
tended to  make  us  philosophers,  or  to  teach  us  the  es- 
sence of  Deity,  but  to  make  us  christians,  or  to  make  us 
wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 
transform  us  into  his  image.  These  doctrines,  in  their 
operation  upon  the  intellect  and  the  heart,  are  intend- 
ed to  enlighten  our  ignorance,  to  teach  us  the  exis- 
tence and  character  of  God,  and  to  restore  us  to  him 
by  his  grace,  through  the  remission  of  our  sins  and  the 
sanctification  of  our  nature;  they  are  intended,  as  means, 
to  bring  us  into  the  favour  and  to  make  us  like  God.  It 
is  not  considered,  that  the  forms  of  expression  and  the 
actions  associated  with  them,  by  which  Christ  is  repro- 
BenteJ  as  coming  from  the  Father,  and  being  sent  by  him, 
and  going  to  him,  and  residing  in  heaven,  while  he  was 
upon  the  earth,  and  such  like,  are  the  very  means  by 
which  the  ideas  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  our  know- 


138  TRINITY. 

ledge  of  the  whole  system  of  spiritual  and  eternal  things, 
are  made  known,  which  constitute  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  All  these  things  are  done  in  accommodation  to 
our  fallen,  limited  state.  Without  them  we  could  know 
and  think  nothing  of  spiritual  things.  With  all  the  light 
we  have  from  these  sources,  we  see  but  through  a  glass 
darkly,  and  see  only  by  faith,  as  blind  Bartimeus  sees. 
j^j^  What  we  see  is  by  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen.  What 
'^  God  is,  essentially  in  himself,  or  what  he  is  beyond  and 
apart  from  the  three-fold  personal  manifestation,  of  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  or  the  grammatical  and  histor- 
ical meaning  of  the  nouns,  verbs,  and  adjectives,  which 
he  has  employed  to  represent  himself,  or  to  make  known 
what  may  be  known  of  him  by  us,  and  which  are  writ- 
ten for  that  purpose,  I  know  not.  These  manifestations 
and  representations  have  been  made  by  himself.  This, 
I  assert,  because  their  existence  cannot  be  otherwise  ac- 
counted for,  and  we  are,  on  that  account,  bound  to  re- 
ceive them  in  their  appropriate  meaning  and  signification, 
and  to  cherish  the  ideas,  views,  affections,  and  con- 
duct, which  they  impart  and  inculcate.  Every  person 
who  is  baptized,  is  baptized  "into  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  by  which  he 
professes  to  believe  them  as  does  the  administrator,  and 
to  come  under  the  authority  of  God  as  Saviour. 

The  Trinity  is  also  recognized  by  the  apostolic  form  of 
benediction  in  2  Cor.  xiii,  14,  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all.     Amen." 


ESSAY    VIII. 


DIVINITY     AND     HUMANITY     OF    JESUS     CHRIST. 


The  Divinity  and  Humanity  of  Jesus  Christ — Dr.  A.  Clark's  view  of 
the  Atonement  and  Sonship  of  Christ. 

I  will  give  a  concise  view  of  the  manner  and  matter  of 
the  proof,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  both  divine  and  human. 
This  is  a  subject  of  pure  revelation,  and  the  word  of  God 
is  the  only  means  of  information. 

The  following  is  the  process,  by  which  I  arrive  at  what 
I  know  of  the  natures  and  offices  of  Jesus  Christ.  As 
the  subject  of  a  proposition  is  known  by  its  predicates, 
all  that  I  have  to  inquire  into  is,  has  the  word  of  God 
ascribed  a  nature  truly  and  properly  human  to  Jesus 
Christ;  and  has  it  ascribed  also  a  nature  to  him  truly  di- 
vine? If  it  has,  I  must  believe  him  to  be  really  a  man, 
and  I  must  believe  him  also  really  divine  or  renounce 
my  pretension  to  a  belief  in  revelation  altogether.  In 
this  case  there  is  no  a  priori  reasoning  or  knowledge. 

It  is  declared  in  the  most  explicit  manner,  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  born  a  babe  and  grew  up  to  manhood.  It  is 
essential  to  a  man  that  he  have  a  human  body  and  a  hu- 
man soul.  A  body  is  as  essential  to  a  man  as  a  soul  is, 
and  a  soul  is  as  essential  as  a  body  is.  Accordingly  it  is 
predicated  of  Christ,  that  he  was  to  be  born  of  Mary,  a  child, 
that  he  had  the  members  and  parts  of  a  human  being,  and 
that  he  had  a  human  soul.     He  is  called  the  last  Adam,  in 


140  DIVINITY   AND   HUMANITY   OF  CHRIST. 

comparison  with  the  first  Adam.  It  is  alleged  of  him, 
that  he  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favour 
with  God  and  man,  the  same  that  was  said  of  Samuel  and 
John  the  Baptist.  1  Sam.  ii,  26.  Luke  i,  80 — that  he 
hungered  and  ate,  that  he  thirsted  and  drank,  laboured,  was 
fatigued  and  rested,  slept,  rejoiced  and  sympathized  with 
his  brethren  and  countrymen,  and  wept;  was  in  an  agony 
and  exclaimed,  "My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful  even 
unto  death!"  that  he  was  wounded,  and  bled  and  died; 
was  buried  and  rose  from  the  dead.  Now  it  seems  to  be 
impossible  that  all  these  things  should  be  really  and  truly 
predicated  of  Christ  as  a  man,  and  yet  that  he  should  not 
be  a  man,  soul  and  body.  It  is  also  predicated  of  him,  that 
he  was  begotten  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and 
though  a  man  he  was  without  sin;  this  is  as  easy  to 
be  conceived  of,  as  is  the  creation  of  the  first  man. 
Adam  was  as  really  a  man,  soul  and  body,  before  he  sinned 
as  he  was  afterwards. 

Notwithstanding  these  predicates  of  human  nature  in 
respect  to  Jesus  Christ,  which  ascertain  him  to  be  truly 
and  properly  a  man,  soul  and  body,  the  disciples  of  Arius, 
to  avoid  what  they  called  a  difficulty,  in  the  idea  of  God 
the  Word  dwelling  in,  or  being  united  to  the  man  Christ 
Jesus,  and  to  get  clear  of  what  they  call  a  mystery, 
reject  the  fact  altogether  that  he  had  a  human  soul, 
and  assert,  that  he  possessed  nothing  that  was  human  but 
a  body,  and  that  the  Word,  who  they  allege  was  made  in 
eternity,  supplied  the  place  of  a  soul.  It  is  to  me,  how- 
ever, far  more  mysterious  —  it  is  more,  it  is  a  contradic- 
tion, if  the  above  things  are  predicated  truly  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  a  man,  and  yet  that  he  should  not  be  a  man. 

If  the  evidence  that  Christ  was  really  a  man,  be  not 
complete  from  his  birth,  actions,  affections,  sufferings  and 
death,  and  from  his  own  affirmations  respecting  himself,  I 


DIVINITY    AND    HUMANITY    OF    CHRIST.  141 

cannot  see  how  it  can  be  proved  that  he  existed  at  all,  or 
that  he  ever  was  made  a  sin-ofFering  for  us,  or  that  he  now 
exists  in  heaven.  The  subject  however,  is  known  by  its 
predicates.  If  Christ  as  a  man  and  the  spotless  Lamb  of 
God,  was  set  forth  to  be  a 'propitiation  through  faith  in 
his  blood,  which  are  clearly  stated  in  the  scriptures,  it 
deserves  serious  consideration  whether  or  not  those  who 
regard  him  otherwise,  do  not  misapprehend  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  altogether.  Some  have  rejected  the  divine 
nature  of  Jesus  Christ,  because  they  could  not  see  how 
a  union  of  the  divine  and  human  nature  could  take  place, 
while  they  affected  to  see  how  a  human  body  was  united 
to  a  soul  not  human;  —  they  could  see  how  the  powers, 
faculties,  affections,  passions  and  feelings  which  are  pow- 
ers and  affections  of  the  human  soul,  could  exist  and  be 
manifested  without  the  human  soul.  To  what  order  or 
class  of  beings  he  belongs,  they  have  not  told  us .  They 
call  him  the  Son  of  God;  so  do  the  scriptures,  but  the  scrip- 
tures also  denominate  him  the  Son  of  man.  The  objec- 
tors deny  to  him  the  nature  and  properties  which  are 
predicated  of  him  by  the  scriptures,  both  as  man  and 
God,  and  which  constitute  him  what  he  is. 

Still  the  subject  of  a  proposition  is  known  by  its  pre- 
dicates. It  is  predicated  of  Christ,  that  he  is  not  only 
man,  but  that  he  is  also  the  eternal  God,  that  he  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God,  and  was  God,  and  is  over  all, 
God  blessed  forever  —  that  he  created  all  things  visible 
and  invisible  that  were  made;  that  he  is  before  all  things 
and  by  him  they  consist.  And  that  while  he  was  in  the 
world  he  did  the  works  of  God,  that  he  healed  the  sick, 
and  raised  the  dead.  It  is  predicated  of  him  moreover, 
that  he  is  omnipotent,  and  omniscient,  and  is  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh.  He  is  also  an  object  of  universal 
worship,  is  to  be  honoured  as  the  Father  is  honoured,  and 
13 


143  DIVINITY   AND  HITMANITY   OF  CHRIST. 

has  promised  that  all  over  the  world,  and  at  all  tinws, 
where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  his  narae,  or 
on  his  account,  he  is  in  the  midst  of  them. 

The  Word  made  flesh,  in  his  two-fold  nature  of  God 
and  man,  is  the  Creator  of  the  new  heavens  and  of  the 
new  earth,  which  will  be  more  durable  and  glorious  than 
was  the  first  or  old  Creation,  which  the  Word,  in  his  one- 
fold nature  as  God  the  Word,  created.  In  order  to  the  new 
creation,  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  established  the 
new  covenant  through  his  own  blood,  which  has  procured 
and  imparts  remission  of  sin  to  every  true  penitent  be- 
liever in  him. 

Unitarians  and  Arians  have  erred  in  two  ways;  they 
have  erred  by  assuming  the  knowledge  of  God,  or  the 
power  to  know  him  without  revelation,  as  all  Deists  and 
natural-religionists  do,  and  by  partially  reading  the  scrip- 
tures in  regard  to  the  natures  and  character  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

It  is  as  obvious  as  day  light,  that  many  things  are  as- 
cribed to  Christ,  which  will  neither  agree  with  his  hu- 
manity or  divinity  separately,  but  will  agree  with  both 
unitedly.  They,  mistaking  these  things,  have  conceived 
of  him  as  neither  man  nor  God,  while  he  is  both.  "Un- 
to us  a  child  is  born;"  this  does  not  belong  to  him  as 
divine;  "  And  his  name  shall  be  called  the  Mighty  God;" 
this  does  not  belong  to  him  as  a  man.  The  same  two- 
fold nature  is  ascribed  to  him  by  Paul .  "  From  the  Fa- 
ther Christ  descended  in  respect  to  the  flesh,  who  is  God 
over  all,  blessed  forever,  Amen."  Rom.  ix,  5.  Man  is  a 
spiritual  and  a  material  being;  spiritual  as  to  his  immor- 
tal soul;  material  as  to  his  body.  Yet  no  confusion  is 
produced  by  this  conjunction:  both  retain  their  respec- 
tive properties .  It  is  not  the  body  that  thinks  and  rea- 
sons; and  it  is  not  the  soul  that  eats  and  drinks.     It  is 


DIVINITY    AND    HUMANITY    OF   CHRIST.  143 

not  the  humanity  of  our  Lord,  that  is  every  where  present; 
and  it  was  not  his  divinity  that  was  crucified.  He  died 
as  a  man.  He  fills  all  things  as  God.  "Great  is  the 
mystery  of  godliness.  Gold  was  manifest  in  the  flesh." 
I  cannot  explain  the  mode  of  this,  but  I  assert  the  fact 
because  the  scriptures  assert  it,  and  it  brings  down  the 
Deity,  in  the  manifestation  of  his  mercy,  grace  and  love, 
to  our  apprehension  and  condition.  We  are  justified 
freely  by  the  grace  of  God,  through  the  redemption  there 
is  in  Christ  Jesus,  whom  he  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propi- 
tiation through  faith  in  his  blood,' -  and  now  exhibits  him 
as  our  Saviour  and  sympathizing  friend: 

"  While  Jews  on  their  own  law  rely, 

And  Greeks  of  wisdom  boast, 
I  love  the  incarnate  mystery, 

And  there  I  fix  my  trust." 

In  the  beginning  of  creation  the  Word  was.  His  ex- 
istence was  a  divine  existence,  for  the  name  of  God  was 
given  to  him — "the  Word  was  God" — creation  was  as^ 
cribed  to  him;  "All  things  were  made  by  him;  and  with- 
out him  was  there  not  any  thing  made  that  was  made. 
In  him  was  life;  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men." 
Could  all  this  be  affinned  of  him  without  his  beinff  God? 
Had  he  been  but  a  man,  or  an  angel,  or  a  superangelical 
creature,  would  John  have  expressed  himself  in  a  way 
so  proper  to  lead  men  into  error  or  idolatry  —  telling  us 
that  he  was  not  only  with  God,  but  that  he  was  God,  and 
making  him  the  fountain  of  all  light,  life  and  being?  If 
he  be  not  God,  it  is  idolatrous  to  worship  him,  and  idola- 
try is  the  thing  that  God  hates.  The  Prophets  and  Apos- 
tles have  said  enough  to  entitle  him  to  all  adoration  and 
praise,  and  they  did  themselves  worship  him. 

"  The  Word  was  made  flesh,"  that  is,  "  The  Word  was 
made  man,  and,  as  Dr.  Campbell  renders  it,  he  became 
incarnate."     But  he  did  not  cease  to  be  what  he  was,  in 


144 


DIVINITY   AND   HUMANITY    OP   CHRIST. 


becoming  what  he  was  not.  Here  is  union  but  not  trans- 
formation, or  confusion.  He  was  God  before  he  was  in 
the  flesh,  and  he  was  God  when  he  was  in  the  flesh,  and 
he  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  He  assumed  our  na- 
ture (pure)  into  personal  subsistence  with  his  own.  "Be- 
cause the  children  were  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he 
likewise  himself  also  took  part  of  the  same.  He  took 
not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham" 

The  following  are  Dr.  Clark's  observations  on  the 
Atonement  and  the  Sonship  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  speaks 
of  himself  in  the  third  person. 

"ft  was  a  strong  article  in  his  creed,  that  the  passion 
and  death  of  Christ,  were  held  out  through  the  ivhole  of 
the  New  Testament,  as  sacrijicial  and  expiatory ;  and  his 
death  was  a  sufficient  ransom,  sacriflce,  and  atonement 
for  the  sin  of  the  world :  for  He  by  the  grace  of  God  had 
tasted  death  for  every  man.  This  doctrine  was  the  only 
basis  of  his  hope;  and  yet  he  had  notthat  faith,  by  which 
he  could  lay  hold  on  the  merit  of  that  sacrifice,  for  his 
personal  salvation.  Were  this  foundation  4;o  be  destroyed, 
what  could  he  do,  or  where  flee  for  refuge?  How  it  was 
shaken  in  his  mind,  I  am  about  to  relate. 

"  He  had  long  been  intimate  in  the  house  of  a  very  re- 
spectable family  in  the  neighborhood.  He  was  there  as 
their  own  child,  for  him  they  had  a  very  strong  affec- 
tion, and  he  felt  for  them  in  return,  both  affection  and  rev- 
erence. One  evening  the  conversation  turned  on  the 
Doctrine  of  the  Atonement;  and  some  observations  then 
made,  filled  his  soul  with  doubts  and  fears.  It  was  in 
short  stated,  by  one  present,  that  "The  Methodists  were 
guilty  of  idolatry,  for  they  gave  that  worship  to  Jesus 
Christ,  that  belonged  to  the  Father  only."  He  came 
home  full  of  confusion :  "  What  have  I  been  doing?    Have 


DIVINITY    AND    HUMANITY    OF   CHRIST.  145 

t  been  adding  idolatry  to  all  the  rest  of  my  transgres- 
sions? Have  I  had  two  Gods  instead  of  one?"  He 
went  into  a  private  place  and  kneeled  down  and  began 
to  ask  pardon  of  God,  fearirfg  that  he  had  given  that  glo- 
ry to  another,  which  was  due  to  Him  alone.  He  was  not 
satisfied  however  with  this;  he  thought  he  would  go  far- 
ther, and  leave  the  name  of  Christ  out  of  all  his  pray- 
ers ;  this  proceeded  so  far  that  he  did  not  like  to  converse 
about  him.  What  he  had  lately  heard,  represented  him 
to  his  mind  as  a  usurper;  and  at  last  he  could  not  bear 
to  see  his  name  in  any  religious  book.  Darkness  now  en- 
tered into  his  mind,  his  spiritual  fervor  gradually  dimin- 
ished, till  it  was  at  last  entirely  gone.  He  prayed,  but  it 
was  a.  form — he  read,  but  it  was  without  unction.  He 
felt  this  lamentable  change,  and  began  earnestly  to  in- 
quire where  it  had  arisen?  Importunate  prayer,  his  for- 
mer refuge,  was  again  suggested  to  his  mind  as  the  only 
help ;  for  he  had  none  to  whom  he  could  open  his  heart. 
In  secret  he  fell  down  before  his  Maker,  and  prayed  earn- 
estly for  deliverance  from  his  present  state  of  darkness, 
ignorance  and  doubt;  he  concluded  his  prayer  by  saying 
*'  have  mercy  upon  me,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ  1 " 
These  last  words  had  no  sooner  dropped  from  his  lips, 
than  he  started  as  if  alarmed  for  himself,  "  What!  have  I 
been  again  praying  in  the  name  of  Jesus?  Was  this 
right?"  Immediately  his  soul  was  filled  with  light,  the 
name  of  Jesus  was  like  the  most  odoriferous  ointment 
poured  out,  he  could  clasp  it  to  his  heart  and  say,  ''Yes 
my  only  Lord  and  Saviour,  thou  hast  died  for  me,  —  by 
Thee  alone  I  can  come  unto  God,  —  there  is  no  other 
name  given  from  heaven  among  men,  by  which  we  can 
be  saved!  Through  the  merit  of  thy  blood,  I  will  take 
confidence  and  approach  unto  God!"  He  now  felt  that 
13* 


146  DIVINITY    AND    HUMANITY    OF    CHftlST. 

he  was  delivered  from  those  depths  of  Satan,  by  which 
his  soul  was  nearly  engulphed. 

"  This  narrow  escape  from  sentiments  which  would 
have  been  fatal,  if  not  finally  ruinous  to  him,  he  ever 
held  as  a  most  special  interference  of  God ;  and  he  al- 
ways found  it  his  duty  to  caution  men  thoroughly  against 
the  Avian  and  Socinian  errors.  It  was  this,  without  any 
suggestions  from  man,  led  him  to  examine  the  reputed 
orthodox,  but  spurious  doctrine  of  the  Eternal  Sonskip  of 
Christ;  which  he  soon  found,  and  has  since  demonstrated 
that  no  man  can  hold,  and  hold  the  eternal  unoriginated 
nature  of  Jesus  Christ.  For  if  this  divine  nature  be  in 
any  sense  whatever  derived,  his  eternity,  and  by  conse- 
quence his  Godhead,  is  destroyed;  and  if  his  Godhead, 
then  his  Atonement.  On  this  point,  he  has  produced  a 
simple  argument  in  his  note  on  Luke  i,  39,  which  is  ab- 
solutely unanswerable.  The  argument  is  simply  this:  — 
"1.  If  Christ  be  the  Son  of  God,  as  to  his  Divine  Na- 
ture, then  he  cannot  be  eternal,  for  Son  implies  a  Father; 
and  Father  implies,  in  reference  to  Son,  precedence  in 
time,  if  not  in  nature  too.  Father  and  Son  imply  the  no- 
tion oi" generation,  and  generation  implies  a  time  in  which 
it  was  effected ;  and  time  also  antecedent  to  such  genera- 
tion. 2.  If  Christ  be  the  Son  of  God,  as  to  his  Divine 
nature,  then  the  Father  is  of  necessity  prior,  consequent- 
ly in  Godhead  superior  to  him.  3.  Again,  if  this  Divine 
nature  were  begotten  of  the  Father,  then  it  must  have 
been  in  time,  i.  e.  there  must  have  been  a  period  when  it 
began  to  exist.  This  destroys  the  eternity  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  and  robs  him  at  once  of  his  Godhead.  4.  To  say 
that  he  was  begotten  from  all  eternity,  is  absurd,  and  the 
phrase,  Eternal  Son,  is  a  positive  self-contradiction.  Eter- 
nity is  that  which  had  no  beginning,  and  stands  in  no 
reference  to  time — Son  supposes  ^ime,  generation,  and 


DIVINITY    AND    HUMANITY    OF   CHRIST.  147 

Father,  and  time  also  antecedent  to  such  generation,  there- 
fore the  theologic  conjunction  of  these  two  terms,  Son 
and  eternity,  is  absolutely  impossible,  as  they  imply  es- 
sentially different  and  opposite  ideas. 

"The  reader  will  see  from  this  case,  which  1  have  cir^ 
cumstantially  related :  —  1.  How  dangerous  it  is  for  young 
converts  to  go  into  the  company,  not  merely  of  the  un- 
godly, but  of  those  who  are  given  to  doubtful  disputations. 
2.  How  completely  subversive  it  must  be  to  a  penitent 
soul,  to  frequent  the  company  of  those,  however  decent 
and  orderly  they  may  be  in  their  conduct,  who  deny,  as 
a  vicarious  atonement,  the  Lord  that  bought  them.  Take 
away  this  foundation  and  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  any 
true  penitent  to  entertain  any  hope  of  mercy.  3.  Peo- 
ple may  hold  this  doctrine,  who  never  felt  the  guilt  of  sin, 
their  own  sore,  and  the  plague  of  their  own  heart;  but 
let  a  man  see  himself  a  sinner,  contemplate  the  infinite 
purity  and  justice  of  God,  and  the  awful  strictness  of  his 
law;  and  then  he  will  feel  that  in  heaven,  in  earth,  in 
time,  in  eternity,  there  is  neither  hope  nor  help  for  his 
soul,  if  he  have  not  a  sacrifice  to  bring  to  the  Divine 
Majesty,  of  merit  sufficient  to  atone  for  all  his  crimes, 
and  give  him  a  riglut  to  an  inheritance  among  them  that 
are  sanctified. 

"It  is  trifling  with  conscience  to  talk  of  confiding  in 
the  Divine  benevolence,  while  the  fragments  of  a  broken 
law,  are  every  where  lying  under  the  sinner's  feet."  — 
Aci^ount  of  the  life  of  Adam  Clarke,    pp.  95-7. 


ESSAY    IX. 


OtlACE    AND    FAITH. 


The  grace  of  God  as  a  system  of  religion,  compre- 
hends the  one  grand  scheme  of  the  divine  favour,  opera- 
tion and  influence,  which  originated  in  the  purpose  and 
love  of  God,  and  is  developed  by  the  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  through  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  by 
which  man  is  restored  to  the  image  and  enjoyment  of  God. 
This  system,  or  plan  of  divine  grace  or  favour,  is,  as  far 
as  it  is  connected  with  the  salvation  of  believers,  embra- 
ced and  comprehended  in  the  New  Covenant,  and  is  ad- 
ministered by  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Mediator  of  it.  This 
system  is  alluded  to  in  Titus,  "  For  the  grace  of  God  that 
bringeth  salvation  hath  appeared  unto  all  men,  teaching 
us,  that  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should 
live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in  this  present  world; 
looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and  the  glorious  appearing 
of  the  great  God,  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ;  who  loved 
us  and  gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from 
all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people, 
zealous  of  good  works."  Tit.  ii,  11-14.  Grace  some- 
times signifies  the  state  into  which  the  gospel,  by  its  appro- 
priate, divine  effects  and  influences,  brings  the  sinner  and 
ungodly  man  through  tru6  faith  and  repentance.  Some- 
times it  means  the  divine  influences  of  the  gospel  upon 
the  heart,  in  producing  faith,  repentance,  hope  and  love, 
which  are  sometimes  called  the  influences  of  the  Spirit. 


GRACE   AND   FAITH.  149^ 

Grace  also,  Parkhurst  observes,  denotes  the  gracious 
and  unmerited  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  his  miracu- 
lous gifts  —  he  adds,  "But  although  I  firmly  believe  in 
his  blessed  operations  and  influences,  on  the  hearts  of 
ordinary  believers,  yet  that  grace  is  ever  in  the  New 
Testament  used  particularly,  for  these,  is  more  than  I 
dare,  after  attentive  examination,  assert."  The  blessed 
operations  and  influences  of  the  Spirit,  exerted  upon  the 
hearts  of  ordinary  believers  —  and  there  are  none  but 
ordinary  ones  now  —  are,  by  and  thi^ough  the  truth  of 
the  gospel  of  God's  grace,  which  was  revealed  and  con- 
firmed by  his  miraculous  gifts,  believed  and  cherished  in 
the  heart,  and  practised  in  the  life.  The  supernatural 
and  miraculous  revelations  and  gifts  of  the  Spiri',  by 
which  it  was  revealed,  sealed  and  confirmed,  and  v>'hich- 
give  a  divine  gracious  character  to  the  gospel,  have  long 
since  ceased. 

The  word  of  God's  grace,  thus  revealed  and  confirmed. 
is  the  divinely  established  means,  through  which  the  bles- 
sed operations  and  influences  are  exerted  upon  the  hearts 
of  all  true  believers.  iVnd  these  are  the  gracious  influ- 
ences of  the  Spirit. 


By  revelation  we  know  that  the  objects  of  faith  exist, 
but  the  mode  or  manner  of  their  existence,  or,  if  created, 
the  mode  or  manner  of  their  creation,  is  totally  inscruta- 
ble and  incomprehensible  to  the  human  mind,  as  much  so 
as  is  the  mode  or  manner  of  the  existence  of  light  and 
vision,  to  the  mind  of  blind  Bartimeus. 

The  only  formal  definition  of  faith,  in  a  scriptural  theo- 
logical use  of  the  term,  that  we  have  in  the  word  of  God, 
is  the  following,  "Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for;  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."     Heb,  xi,  1, 


150  GRACE   AND   FAITH. 

This  definition  is  plain,  and  agrees  exactly  with  all  that 
the  scriptures  say  on  the  subject.  The  objects  of  faith 
are  things  hoped  for,  things  not  seen.  Things  hoped 
for  are  future  good  things,  or  they  could  not  be  objects 
of  faith  or  hope.  Faith  is  the  evidence  or  conviction  of 
things  not  seen.  Things  not  seen  are  more  numerous 
and  comprehensive  than  things  hoped  for.  They  include 
not  only  things  promised,  but  also  things  testified;  John 
iii,  33:  2  Thess.  i,  10;  not  only  good  things  to  be  hoped 
for, but  evil  things  to  be  dreaded;  Heb.  xi,  7;  not  merely 
future  things,  but  things  also  past,  and  present;  Heb.  ix, 
6.  It  is,  however,  common  to  them  all,  that  they  are 
things  not  seen,  and  are  only  known  by  revelation;  for 
it  is  only  unseen  things,  that  can  properly  be  objects  of 
faith;  and  hence  faith  is  opposed  to  sight  or  sense.  2  Cor. 
V,  7;  Heb.  xi.  3;  1  Pet.  i,  8.  Faith  in  its  theological 
sense,  as  has  been  formerly  proven,  is  produced  by  the 
word  of  God,  as  it  reveals  or  makes  known  things  not 
seen  by  sense,  or  which  cannot  be  inferred  from  nature, 
or  natural  appearances.  Rom.  x,  17;  Acts  xvii,  11,  12; 
1  Cor.  ii,  11,  12,  13.  Things  which  are  known  by  na- 
ture, reason  or  experience,  without  revelation,  are  not 
scriptural  objects  of  faith. 

Divine  faith  is  the  belief  of  divine  revelation  and  testi- 
mony. This  faith  is  the  belief  of  the  truth  of  whatever  God 
is  pleased  to  reveal,  and  which,  but  for  his  revelation  had 
not  been  known.  Human  faith  rests  upon  human  testi- 
mony, as  divine  faith  rests  upon  divine  testimony;  it 
is  the  same  mind  that  believes  both,  and  it  partakes  in  its 
states  of  the  nature  and  qualities  of  the  objects  believed, 
as  it  perceives  them. 

It  is  reasonable  to  believe,  what  God  has  revealed,  and 
testified,  because  it  is  truth,  for  God  cannot  lie. 

The  conviction  that  is  in  divine  faith  or  belief,  is  not  a 


GRACE  AND  FAITH,  151 

blind  enthusiastic  fancy,  or  the  working  of  a  weak  cred- 
ulity. When  a  man  really  believes,  his  mind  will  be  af- 
fected by  the  objects  of  his  belief,  according  to  their  per- 
ceived natures,  and  the  relations  they  bear  to  him,  and 
he  to  them.  "He  acteth  differently  upon  that,  which 
each  passage  of  scripture  containeth,  if  it  be  faith  in  di- 
vine things,  yielding  obedience  to  the  commandments, 
trembling  at  the  threatenings,  and  embracing  the  promises 
of  God,  for  this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come." 

If  what  a  man  believes  appears  to  him  evil,  disagreea- 
ble or  hurtful,  it  will  excite  his  hatred,  aversion,  or  fear; 
but  if  it  appears  to  him  excellent  and  true,  amiable  or 
beneficial,  it  will  draw  forth  his  esteem  and  confidence, 
love,  desire,  hope  or  joy.  These  dispositions,  passions  and 
affections  evidently  suppose  the  previous  perception  and 
belief  of  what  excites  them;  these  are  therefore  not  faith 
but  the  effects  of  it.  Though  faith  is  the  confidence,  or 
substance,  of  things  hoped  for,  and  also,  in  the  christian's 
heart,  worketh  by  love,  yet  it  is  neither  hope  nor  love 
for  the  Apostle  distinguishes  it  from  both;  "Now  abideth 
faith,  hope  and  love,  these  three."     1  Cor.  xiii,  13. 

Noah,  by  faith  of  God's  warning  respecting  the  flood, 
was  moved  with  fear  lo  prepare  the  ark,  (Heb.  xi,  7,)  yet 
this  fear  was  not  faith  but  the  effect  of  it,  as  was  his  la- 
bour in  building  the  ark,  and  preaching  righteousness. 

The  objects  of  faith  are  different,  and  when  believed, 
they  produce  different  effects  upon  the  mind,  correspond- 
ing with  their  perceived  natures,  and  the  relations  the 
mind  bears  to  them .  True  faith  is  the  belief  of  the  truth ; 
and  saving  faith,  is  the  belief  in  Jesus  Christ  the  Sa- 
viour, by  the  testimony  that  God  has  given  of  his  Son. 
By  faith  we  know  that  God  is,  but  the  belief  of  this  alone, 
does  not  save.  Saving  faith  is  called  by  the  Apostles 
"  Believing  with  the  heart  unto  righteousness. "    Christ 


152  GRACE   AND   FAITH. 

is  the  object  of  it;  he  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteous- 
ness  to  them  that  believe. 

Edwards  says,  as  the  conclusion  of  all  his  inquiries, 
"  the  best  and  clearest  and  most  perfect  definition  of  jus- 
tifying or  saving  faith,  and  most  according  to  the  scrip- 
tures, that  I  can  think  of,  is  this :  faith  is  the  soul's  entire- 
ly embracing  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Sa- 
viour. " 

Saving  faith  embraces  or  receives  Jesus  Christ,  for 
justification.  This  faith  works  by  love,  as  it  is  that  by 
which  God  purifies  the  heart.  This  faith  understands 
the  truth,  believes  it,  acknowledges  it  and  practices  it. 
Speculative  faith,  that,  is  faith  which  produces  no  purify- 
ing -practical  effects,  consists  in  the  superficial  belief  of 
a  few  truths  detached  from  their  connection  with  the  more 
essential  parts  of  revelation.  These  in  their  nature,  are 
not  suited  to  produce,  and  are  incapable  of  producing,  pu- 
rifying effects.  The  faith  of  such  a  believer  does  not 
embrace  the  essential  truths  of  the  gospel,  which  operate 
to  the  saving  of  the  soul.  As  it  does  not  justify  the  per- 
son, and  there  is  no  wonder  that  it  does  not  produce  the 
fruits  of  righteousness. 

Some  describe  fliith  to  be  an  inward  principle  of  grace, 
implanted  in  the  heart  by  the  operation  of  the  Spirit, 
separate  from,  and  previous  to,  the  knowledge  of  the  word 
of  God.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  what  is  meant  by  such 
a  principle  of  grace  as  this.  It  cannot  be  any  sentiment 
respecting  Christ  or  his  salvation,  since  it  is  supposed  to 
be  previous  to  the  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  word  of 
God,  wherein  alone  Christ  is  revealed.  Nor  can  it  be 
any  disposition  or  affection  of  mind  towards  Christ;  for 
the  mind  cannot  be  affected  by  any  object  with  which  it 
has  no  knowledge.  Faith  is  the  belief  of  the  truth  or  of 
GodPs  word.     The  word  of  God^s  grace,  is  the  very  thing 


GRACE   AND   FAITH.  153 

that  is  established  in  the  heart  by  faith.  Sinners  cannot 
love  God  in  their  sins.  Christ  by  the  gospel  is  presented 
to  them  as  the  object  of  their  faith,  the  Jirst  object  that 
meets  the  eye  of  their  mind;  and  their  sins  are  remitted 
by  faith  in  him.  And  "being  justified  by  faith,  they 
have  peace  with  God,  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
When  men  conceive  faith  to  be  a  principle  wrought  in 
the  heart,  by  the  Spirit  abstract  from  the  Word,  it  will 
lead  them  to  look  within  themselves  for  the  operation  of 
some  spirit;  very  different  from  the  Spirit  of  truth,  who 
speaks  in  the  scriptures,  whose  work  it  is  to  guide  into 
all  truth,  to  speak  of  Christ,  and  to  glorify  him.  It  will 
make  them  seek  after  this  inward  principle,  in  the  first 
instance,  as  the  main  hinge  of  their  hope  without  the 
Word,  and  prevent  them  taking  any  comfort  from  it,  till 
they  fancy  they  find  this  unscriptural  principle  wrought 
in  them,  which  after  all,  seems  to  be  only  a  principle  of 
blind  enthusiasm  or  self-conceit. 

When  faith  is  confounded  with  its  effects,  and  made  to 
consist  of  a  number  of  good  dispositions,  and  vigorous 
exertions  of  the  mind,  it  limits  the  extent,  and  clouds  the 
immediate  freeness  of  divine  grace  to  the  chief  of  sin- 
ners, by  confining  it  to  such  as  are  supposed  to  be  better 
disposed  and  qualified  than  others.  It  sets  the  gospel 
ground  of  hope,  at  a  distance  from  those  who  are  self- 
condemned,  who  cannot  find  such  good  dispositions  in 
themselves,  and  puts  them  upon  striving  to  attain  them 
\fy  some  great  exertion  of  mind,  and  perhaps  body,  in 
order  to  be  justified.  The  consequence  is,  that  they 
either  become  discouraged  and  sink  into  despondency,  or 
fall  into  despair  after  much  fruiUess  labour,  or  if  they 
obtain  any  fluctuating  peace  in  this  way,  it  is  not  found- 
ed on,  or  derived  from  what  they  believe  concerning 
Christ,  but  from  a  better  opinion  of  themselves.  There 
14 


154  GRACE   AND   FAITH. 

is  a  wide  difference  between  believing  "that  God  will 
justify  only  such  as  are  well  disposed,  and  properly  qual- 
ified by  their  own  good  deeds  and  protracted  efforts ; " 
and  believing  "that  he  justifies  the  ungodly  freely,  by 
his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Rom.  iii,  24  j  iv,  5.  The  former  leads  a  man  to  seek  re- 
lief to  his  guilty  conscience,  and  peace  with  God  from 
something  to  be  wrought  in  him,  or  done  by  him,  distinct 
from  faith  in  and  reliance  upon  Jesus  Christ.  The  latter 
leads  him  directly  to  the  character  and  atonement  of 
Christ,  as  the  sole  foundation  of  his  justification,  and  of 
his  hope  and  peace  with  God.  On  him  he  believes,  and 
receives  him  for  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sancti- 
fication,  and  redemption — his  faith  is  produced  by,  and 
is  resolved  into,  the  record  that  God  has  given  of  his  Son. 


ESSAY    X. 


JUSTIFICATION. 


The  justification  of  a  sinner  and  ungodly  man,  is  by  faith  without 
works:  —  the  justification  of  a  righteous  or  godly  man,  is  by  works, 
and  not  by  faith  only. 

The  gospel  doctrine  of  the  justification  of  sinners  or 
ungodly  men,  as  distinguished  from  the  justification  of 
saints,  is  the  same  as  the  doctrine  of  the  remission  of  sin, 
of  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  or  of  pardon  and  acquittal,  and 
is  called  the  righteousness  of  God. 

The  justification  of  a  sinner,  is  by  grace,  through  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  is  by  the  divine  constitution  of  the 
New  Covenant,  based  in  the  atonement,  or  the  expiatory 
sufferings  and  vicarious  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  he 
submitted  to  willingly,  and  endured  by  divine  appoint- 
ment; "God  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  that  we 
might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  "He 
humbled  himself  and  became  obedient  to  the  death  of  the 
cross."     2  Cor.  v,  21 :  Phil,  ii,  8. 

The  doctrine  of  justification,  claims  to  itself  a  sort  of 
precedency  and  pre-eminence  over  all  other  doctrines,  as 
being  the  one  in  which  all  the  other  doctrines  of  grace 
unite. 

A  person,  who  is  wrong  on  the  subject  of  gospel  justifi- 
cation, will  scarcely  be  right  in  any  other  which  is  con- 
nected with  it.  Wrong  views  of  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion, are  usually  connected,  either  with  light  aijd  trifling 


156  JUSTIFICATION. 

views  of  sin,  and  of  human  depravity  and  corruption,  and 
erroneous  views  of  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  or 
with  wrong  views  of  the  gospel  method,  by  which  the 
grace  of  God,  is  applied  for  the  justification  of  sinners. 
In  the  former  case  the  expiatory  sufferings  and  sacrifice 
of  Christ,  are  often  rejected  altogether,  and  reliance  is 
placed  upon  a  few  external  rites  and  ceremonies  for  sal- 
vation, without  any  deep  affecting  views  of  sin,  or  scrip- 
tural views  of  its  remission.  In  the  latter  case,  persons 
are  often  truly  convinced  of  sin,  and  feel  the  want  of  the 
remedy  which  the  gospel  has  provided,  but  mistaking  that 
remedy,  instead  of  believing  and  trusting  in  Jesus  Christ, 
for  righteousness  and  salvation,  they  seek  the  divine  fa- 
vour by  agonizing  and  striving,  and  waiting  for  the  ope- 
rations of  the  Spirit  to  relieve  them,  before  they  believe 
in  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  confounding  justification  with 
sanctification.  No  operation  of  the  Spirit  will  ever  bring 
peace  to  the  soul  of  an  awakened  sinner  in  his  sins,  ac- 
cording to  the  gospel.  The  sinner  must  be  justified  by 
faith  in  Christ  —  his  sins  must  be  pardoned  through 
faith  —  he  must  be  acquitted,  before  he  can  have  peace 
with  God.  This  pardon  and  acquittal  is  not  effected  by 
the  operation  of  God's  Spirit  physically,  but  through  faith 
in  Christ.  Those  who  believe  that  it  is  effected  by  physi- 
cal operations,  are  under  a  mistake.  Many  persons  un- 
der mistaken  views  upon  this  subject,  neglect  religion  al- 
together. And  many,  after  long  and  laborious  efforts  to 
obtain  relief  by  the  operations  of  the  Spirit,  without  find- 
ing it,  set  down  in  hopeless  melancholy.  Others  gradual- 
ly get  clear  of  their  trouble,  and  conclude  that  if  religion 
be  a  reality,  it  is  not  within  their  power,  and  that  it  is  use- 
less to  attend  any  longer  to  it.  Others  by  great  effort 
of  mind,  and  amidst  much  religious  excitement  and 
declamation  feel  a  sudden  vibration  of  mind  from  pain- 


JUSTIFICATION.  IS? 

ful  anxiety  to  a  state  of  tranquillity,  and  seize  upon 
that  as  evidence  of  conversion,  but  which  is  not  as- 
sociated with  any  believing  view  of  the  character  of 
Jesus  Christ,  as  he  is  revealed  in  the  gospel  as  the 
Saviour.  In  this  case  the  peace  that  is  felt,  does  not 
proceed  from  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  not  because 
they  are  justified  by  faith,  that  they  have  peace  with  God 
through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  thought  to  proceed 
from  an  inward  principle  of  grace,  implanted  in  the  heart 
by  the  operation  of  the  Spirit,  previous  to  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.  In  this,  it  is  essentially  different  from  the  con- 
versions recorded  in  the  New  Testament.  No  person 
can  be  converted  to  God  in  his  sins,  as  no  person  can  love 
God  in  his  sins;  and  all  are  in  their  sins  who  are  not  jus- 
tified by  f^iith  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  Apostles  never  per- 
mitted their  hearers  to  withdr.iv/  their  attention  one  mo- 
ment from  the  character  and  oliic-es  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
him  crucified,  as  the  o!;J3ct  of  faith  who  alone  could  jus- 
tify and  save  thorn,  when  they  adJresseJ  them;  and  the 
Spirit,  in  no  instance  that  we  have  upon  record,  ever 
wrought  a  miracle,  or  spake  a  vrora,  or  did  one  thing  in 
the  conversion  of  a  sinner,  which  was  not  with  a  direct 
view  of  producing  faith  and  confijencc  in  Jesus  Christ. 
He  never  diverted  the  attention  of  the  peoployVoTZi  Christ 
to  himself,  because  ho  was  sent  not  to  speali:  of,  or  to  glo- 
rify himself,  but  to  speak  of  and  to-glorify  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Spirit,  as  Christ  promised  to  the  Apostles  in  John 
xvi,  8—10,  after  he  came,  convinced  the  world  of  sin,  and 
of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment,  that  is  "he  instruct- 
ed the  world  on  the  subject  of  their  sins,  their  pardon, 
and  their  liberation  from  the  power  of  Satan,  which  was 
grounded  on  Christ's  going  to  the  Father  —  his  death,  re- 
surrection and  glorification."  Storr  and  Flatt.  We  see 
how  this  was  done  in  every  instance,  in  which  the  Apos- 
14* 


158  JUSTIFICATION. 

ties  preached  the  gospel,  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down 
from  heaven,  and  how  clearly  they  exhibited  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Peter's  two  ser- 
mons in  Acts  ii,  and  ch.  x,  and  Paul's  in  Acts  xiii,  16-41, 
exhibit  in  a  plain  hisorical  detail,  the  method  and  order 
of  God  in  justifying  sinners, — as  Paul  does  in  his  Epis- 
tle to  the  Romans  and  Galatians.  It  seems  to  me  that 
protestant  christians  in  the  present  age,  have  greatly  ob- 
scured, and  confused  the  doctrine  of  justification,  which 
was  held  by  the  Apostles,  and  the  Reformers  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  They  seem  to  labour  more  for  the  phys- 
ical agencies  of  the  Spirit  upon  their  congregations,  than 
they  do,  that  they  may  understand  and  believe  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  they  may  be  justified  through 
faith  in  him;  and  there  is  much  more  attention  paid  to  the 
imaginations  and  passions  of  the  people,  than  to  their  un- 
derstandings, judgments  and  affections. 

Milner,  in  his  Church  History,  remarks,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  in  its  explicit  form,  had  been  lost  for 
many  ages  of  the  christian  world,  previous  to  the  time  of 
Luther,  and  attributes  the  great  corruptions  of  Christiani- 
ty to  it.  He  asks  "  If  men  had  really  believed  that 
through  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  salvation 
was  obtained,  and  that  "  God  justifies  the  ungodly  through 
faith  without  works,"  how  could  they  have  been  imposed 
on,  by  the  traffic  of  indulgences?  The  whole  system  of 
indulgencies  was  impious,  and  the  right  knowledge  of 
justification  was  the  only  remedy  adequate  to  the  evil. 
This  was  the  capital  ol)ject  of  the  reformation.  This  is 
the  great  mystery  revealed  by  the  gospel.  The  only 
ground  of  hearty  and  grateful  obedience,  and  real  com- 
fort, is  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  No  certain 
rest  can  be  afforded  to  the  weary  mind,  and  to  a  state  of 
doubt,  but  in  this  doctrine."     And  no  possible  ground  of 


JUSTIFICATION.  159 

christian  union  and  fellowship  can  be  proposed,  when 
there  is  such  a  difference  about  baptism  and  other  things, 
but  in  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
In  him  all  true  believers  mefet  and  are  one;  they  are  the 
children  of  God  by  faith  in  him,  however  they  may  differ 
respecting  baptism  and  other  things. 

The  following  account  Luther  gave  of  his  own  exercies 
and  views  upon  this  subject,  which  delivered  him  from 
Roman  Catholic  superstition,  and  introduced  the  great 
Protestant  reformation.  It  would  be  well  for  Roman 
Catholics  and  erring  Protestants  to  consider  it  well. 

He  observes,  "From  scholastic  divinity  I  learnt  no- 
thing of  the  real  nature  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  or  of  the 
whole  christian  life,  or  any  thing  of  the  excellency  of 
God  or  of  his  works,  his  grace  or  his  justice.  Faith,  hope 
and  charity  were  to  me  words  without  meaning.  In  short 
I  not  only  learnt  nothing  right,  but  I  had  to  unlearn  every 
thing  which  I  had  acquired  in  that  way.  In  the  school  I 
lost  Christ,  I  have  found  him  in  Saint  Paul. 

'•However  blameless  a  life  I  might  lead  as  a  monk,  I 
experienced  a  most  unquiet  conscience.  I  perceived  my- 
self a  sinner  before  God;  I  saw  that  I  could  do  nothing 
to  appease  him,  and  I  hated  the  idea  of  a  just  God, 
that  punishes  sinners.  I  was  well  versed  in  all  Saint 
Paul's  writings,  and  in  particular  I  had  a  most  wonderful 
desire  to  understand  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  But  I 
was  puzzled  with  the  expression  in  reference  to  the  Gos- 
pel Hherein  is  the  righteousness  of  God  revealed^  My 
heart  rose  almost  against  God  with  a  silent  sort  of  blas- 
phemy. At  last  in  secret,  I  said  with  great  murmur  and 
indignation,  was  it  not  enough  that  wretched  man,  already 
entirely  ruined  by  the  curse  of  original  depravity,  should 
be  oppressed  with  every  species  of  misery  through  the 
condemning  power  of  the  commandment,  but  even  through 


160  JUSTIFICATION. 

the  gospel,  God  threatens  us  with  his  anger  and  justice, 
and  thereby  adds  affliction  to  affliction !  Thus  I  raged  with 
a  troubled  conscience.  Over  and  over  I  turned  the  above 
mentioned  passage  to  the  Romans,  most  importunately. 
My  thii^t  to  know  the  Apostles  meaning  was  insatiable. 
At  length  while  I  was  meditating  day  and  night  on  the 
words,  and  their  connection  with  what  immediately  fol- 
lows, namely,  "the  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  it  pleased 
God  to  have  pity  upon  me,  to  open  mine  eyes  and  to  show 
me  that  the  righteousness  of  God,  which  is  here  said  in  the 
Gospel  to  be  revealed  from  faith  to  faith,  relates  to  the 
method  by  which  God  in  his  mercy  justifies  a  sinner 
through  faith  agreeably  to  v/ha.t  is  written  "^7/c  just  shall 
live  hy  faith?''  Hence  I  felt  myself  a  new  man,  and  all 
the  scriptures  appeared  to  have  a  new  face.  The  right- 
eousness of  God  nov/  became  as  sweet  to  my  mind  as  it 
had  been  hateful  before,  and  this  very  passage  of  Saint 
Paul  proved  to  me,  to  be  the  entrance  into  Paradise." 
This  discovery  of  Luther,  I  repeat,  v/as  the  beginning  of 
the  great  Protestant  reformation  from  Roman  Catholic 
superstition  and  ignorance  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
doctrine,  which  lies  upon  the  surface  of  the  gospel,  that 
the  justylcation  of  sinners  and  ungodly  men,  is  hy  faith 
without  ivories;  and  the  doctrine  that  the  just  by  faith  shall 
live  and  do  good  woi'Jrs,  or  be  justified  by  works  and  not 
by  faith  only,  are  the  great  distinguishing  doctrines  of  the 
christian  religion.  Respecting  those  who  departed  from" 
the  gospel  views  of  JListification,  it  uas  declared  by  Paul, 
that  "Christ  should  p.-ofit  them  nothing — to  (hem  the  gos- 
pel had  become  of  none  effect  —  they  had  fallen  from 
grace  —  they  were  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ."  Gal. 
iii:  iv,  2-4:  Phil,  iii,  18. 

To  be  more  explicit  I  observe,  1.  That  justification  is 
a  law  term,  and  is  taken  from  the  business  of  judicial 


JUSTIFICATION.  161 

courts,  and  denotes  the  acquittal  of  a  person  tried  by  such 
a  court  upon  an  accusation  of  crime.  The  person  accused 
being  put  upon  trial  and  found  innocent  of  the  charge,  is 
declared  by  the  judge  to  be  just  in  the  viesv  of  the  law; 
and  by  an  easy  and  natural  figure  is  said  to  he  justified  or 
made  just.  The  judgment  of  acquittal,  by  which  he  is 
said  to  be  justified  in  this  case,  does  not  make  the  person 
innocent  of  the  crime  charged  against  him;  but  having 
been  innocent,  the  judgment  of  acquittal  by  which  he  is 
said  to  be  justified,  declares  or  manifests  his  innocence. 
This  is  meritorious  justification;  that  is,  justification  by 
personal  innocence  or  merit,  and  is  applicable  to  innocent 
or  sinless  beings  alone. 

2.  This  justiiication  is  not  the  justification  of  a  sinner 
and  ungodly  man  before  God.  Hence  the  gospel  sense 
and  meaning  of  the  word  justification,  is  very  different 
from  the  above,  because  ''all  have  cinned,  and  all  are 
guilty  before  God  —  all  are  under  sin,  and  none  are 
righteous,  no  not  one?"^  No  one  therefore  of  the  human 
family  can  be  justified  meritoriously,  that  is  on  account  of 
his  own  personal  innocence  or  merit.  Hence  the  justifi- 
cation provided  for  in  the  New  Covenant  for  sinners,  is,  by 
the  grace  or  favour  of  God'through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
It  was  in  reference  to  this  that  God  promised  by  Jeremiah 
to  make  a  New  Covenant,  by  i\\e  rich  provisions  of  which 
he  would  forgive  the  iniquity,  and  remember  the  sins  of 
his  people  no  more,  which  was  not  done  under  the  Old 
Covenant  except  prospectively  in  reference  to  the  New 
Covenant,  because  the  Old  Covenant  had  no  atonement  by 
which  the  spiritual  or  internal  sins  of  the  soul  could  be  re- 
mitted. Jer.  xxxi,  31-33:  Heb.  viii,9:  x,  4:  See  the 
Essay  on  the  new  Covenant. 

It  was  of  this  justification  by  grace  through  faith,  that 
Isaiah  spoke,  "by  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  ser- 


162  JUSTIFICATION. 

vant  justify,  (that  is,  procure  pardon  for)  many,  for  he 
shall  bear  their  iniquities."  Isa.  liii,  11.  Of  the  same, 
Zacharias  spoke  when  addressing  his  infant  son  John,  at 
his  birth,  who  was  the  harbinger  of  Christ,  "And  thou, 
child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet  of  the  Highest,  for  thou 
shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to  prepare  his  ways ; 
to  give  knowledge  of  salvation  unto  his  people  by  the  re- 
mission of  their  sins  through  the  tender  mercy  of  our  God, 
whereby  the  day  spring  from  on  high  hath  visited  us,  to 
give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow 
of  death,  and  to  guide  our  feet  into  the  way  of  peace." 
Luke  i,  76-79.  "John  the  Baptist  filled  this  commission  in 
part  when  he  said  "  behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world" — "he  that  believeth  on  the  Son 
hath  everlasting  life,  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son 
shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  Goi  abideth  on  him." 
John  i,  29:  iii,  36.  "John  preached  the  baptism  of  repent- 
ance, saying  unto  the  people  that  they  should  believe  on 
him  which  should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus." 
Acts  xix,  4. 

John's  preaching  and  baptism  were  only  preparatory  to 
the  Jewish  nation  receiving  Jesus  Christ  as  the  expected 
Messiah.  They  who  professed  a  willingness  to  reform 
and  to  believe  in  Christ  when  he  should  come,  were  bap- 
tized by  him. 

It  was  in  reference  to  this  justification  by  grace,  through 
the  atoning  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  he,  when  he  insti- 
tuted his  supper,  and  gave  the  cup  to  his  disciples,  said 
"  Drink  ye  all  of  it,  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Cov- 
enant, which  is  shed  for  many,  for  the  remission  of  sins." 

1  will  now  endeavour  to  illustrate  the  principle  or  doc- 
trine of  the  justification  of  a  sinner  by  grace  through  the 
redemption  there  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  contrasted  with 
meritorious  justification.     The  sinner  supposed,  is  a  true 


JUSTIFICATION.  163 

penitent  believer  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  is  put  upon  his  trial. 
Charges  of  various  sorts  are  placed  against  him  —  they 
are  true.  He  has  been  guilty  of  many  aggravated  and 
heinous  sins.  How  is  he  to  be-justified,  or  how  can  God 
be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  this  sinner?  The  gospel  an- 
swers these  questions,-  *'God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give 
his  only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life" — "  the  justifi- 
cation or  righteousness  of  God  is  by  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe  —  through 
him  is  preached  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  by  him  all 
that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things" — "  they  are  jus- 
tified freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus,  whom  God  has  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation 
through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for 
the  remission  of  sin,  that  he  might  be  just  and  the  justi- 
fier of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus" — "to  him  give  all 
the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name  whosoever  be- 
lieveth in  him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins."  John  iii, 
16:  Rom.  iii,22:  Acts  xiii,  38-39:  Rom.  xxiv,  26:  Acts 
x,43. 

The  truth  of  the  declaration  that  sinners  are  justified 
by  faith  without  works  or  any  act  of  the  body,  as  was 
Abraham,  who  believed,  and  his  faith  was  counted  or  im' 
puled  to  him  for  righteousness,  is  sealed  and  confrmedhy 
the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  were  bestow- 
ed upon  the  believing  Gentiles  the  moment  that  they  be- 
lieved. Acts  X,  44-46:  xi,  15-18:  xv,  7-9:  Eph.  i,  13. 
Therefore,  however  true  and  aggravated  the  charge  of 
sin  may  have  been  against  the  true  penitent  believer  in 
Jesus  Christ  previous  to  his  faith,  by  it  he  is  justified  from 
all  things,  his  faith  is  counted  to  him  for  righteousness. 
And  therefore  Paul  asks  the  question  in  reference  to  him, 
*'who  shall  condemn  him,  since  it  is  God  that  justifies  him 
through  Christ  who  died  for  him?"    Rom.  viii,  33-34. 


164  JUSTIFICATION. 

In  this  case  the  formal  judgment  of  acquittal  does  not 
make  the  true  believer  just,  or  innocent  of  the  sins  charged 
against  him,  but  it  declares  him  to  be  so,  and  to  have  been 
made  so  by  the  grace  of  God  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ 
at  the  time  he  believed  with  his  heart,  for  with  the  heart 
man  believeth  into  righteousness.  He  was  then  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  Christ,  because  in  the  gospel  of 
the  New  Covenant,  Christ  was  made  unto  him  righteous- 
ness or  justification,  and  redemption,  and  he  received  him 
and  believed  on  his  name,  and  by  God's  grace  he  was  made 
the  righteousness  of  God  in  him.  Cor.  i,  30 :  2  Cor.  v,  21: 
John  i,  12-13. 

The  faith  by  which  the  true  believer  receives  Christ  is 
an  internal  action  of  the  soul,  and  not  an  external  one  of 
the  body,  and  is  that  upon  which  God  suspends  the  remis- 
sion of  his  sin,  and  by  which  the  believer  receives  it,  and 
by  which  God  communicates  his  favour  to  him  as  a  justi- 
fied person,  and  imparts  his  divine  influence  into  his  heart. 
The  external  acts  of  this  faith  are  whatever  the  be- 
liever says  or  does  according  to  the  word  of  God,  whether 
they  relate  to  submitting  to,  or  obeying  the  ordinances  of 
the  gospel,  or  to  acts  of  self-denial,  or  of  good  works  or 
worship. 

Man  by  nature  and  practice  is  involved  in  guilt,  and  in 
the  love  of  sin,  vvhich  is  his  disease.  God's  righteousness 
revealed  in  the  gospel  delivers  him  from  both.  The  justi- 
cation  then  of  a  sinner  is  complex.  It  includes  the  idea 
of  pardon,  and  also  of  acquittal.  To  pardon  sin,  and  yet 
to  let  the  disease  or  the  love  of  sin  remain,  would  be  to 
accomplish  but  little  for  the  guilty,  polluted  sinner.  God's 
grace  and  mercy  through  the  blood  of  Christ  operate  in 
such  a  way  as  to  heal  the  disease  as  well  as  to  pardon 
or  remit  sin;  in  such  a  way  as  to  associate  sin  with  the 
abhorrence  of  the  heart  and  duty,  or  the  service  of  God 


JUSTIFICATION.  165 

•with  the  love  of  it.  Sanctitication  begins  in  justification. 
Sin  lost  for  man  communion  with  God,  and  destroyed  his 
qualification  for  the  enjoyment  of  him.  Justification  re- 
stores the  former,  and  sanctification  restores  the  latter. 
Gospel  justification  is  a  change  of  state  and  condition  in 
the  eye  of  the  law,  and  of  the  law-giver.  Gospel 
sanctification  is  a  blessed  conformity  of  heart  and  life,  to 
the  law  of  the  gospel,  or  will  of  the  law-giver.  The  first 
is  a  relative  change  from  being  guilty  to  being  righteous. 
The  other  is  a  real  change  from  being  filthy  to  being  holy. 
By  the  one  v/e  are  made  near  to  God,  by  the  other  we  are 
made  like  him.  By  being  justifiejl,  of  aliens  we  are 
made  children,  and  by  being  sanctified,  the  enmity  of  the 
heart  is  slain  and  the  sinner  is  not  only  made  a  faithful 
loyal  subject,  but  a  loving  dutiful  child. 

To  be  justified  therefore,  is  more  than  to  be  barely  for- 
given. To  be  entitled  to  and  qualified  for  heaven  and 
brought  there,  are  more  than  to  be  saved  from  hell.  A  man 
may  be  brought  in  not  guilty,  at  the  bar,  without  being  ad' 
vanced  to  a  throne.  A  prince  may  pardon  a  traitor  with« 
out  conferring  on  him  any  further  favour.  But  those 
whom  God  justifies,  are  not  only  forgiven  accordino- ta 
the  riches  of  his  grace,  but  they  are  blessed  with  all  soir- 
itual  blessings  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  will 
be  finally  glorified.  They  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God 
through  faith  unto  salvation. 

Christ,  as  our  wisdom,  and  as  the  Lord  our  righteous^ 
uess,  has  brought  in  such  a  way  of  knowing  and  of  enjoy- 
ing God,  as  the  first  Adam  and  the  covenant  of  inno- 
cence under  which  he  was  placed,  were  utter  strano-ers 
to,  God's  justified  ones  are  not  only  to  live,  but  they  are 
to  reign  in  life  by  Jesus  Christ, 

It  is  thought  by  some  that  there  is  a  contradiction  be- 
tween PauPs  account  of  justification  in  his  Epistle  to  the 


166  jrrsTiFicATioN. 

Romans  and  Galatians,  which  is  "6y  faith  withottt 
works, ''^  and  "  by  faith  that  it  might  be  by  grace,'''^  and 
James's  account  which  is  "  by  works  and  not  by  faith  oji- 
lyy  When  they  are  both  understood,  there  is  no  contra- 
diction or  inconsistency  between  them.  James  ii,  14,  in 
our  common  version,  bears  an  apparent  repugnance  to  the 
doctrine  delivered  by  St.  Paul.  But  a  slight  correction 
strips  it  of  the  difficulty,  and  exhibits  the  harmony  of  the 
sacred  writings;  ^'*What  doth  it  profit,  my  brethren,  though 
a  man  say  he  hath  faith  and  have  not  works?  Can  faith 
save  him?"^"^  In  this  translation  the  article  before  faith  is 
wholly  omitted ;  whereas,  it  is  clearly  intended  to  be  em- 
phatic: "  can  this  faith  save  him  ?  "  Can  a  faith  of  which 
we  see  and  know  nothing  of  its  fruits,  a  faith  inoperative 
and  counterfeit,  save  him?  "Can  such  a  faith,  "says 
Doddridge  in  his  paraphrase,  "  as  may  be  separated  from 
good  works,  save  him?"  So  says  Macknfght,  "  Can  this 
faith  save  him?"  James  does  not  say  that  faith  will  not 
save  him,  but  denies  that  a  dead  faith  will.  In  this  Paul 
and  he  are  agreed.  This  faith,  before  it  works,  exists, 
and  believes  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  it  the  sinner  is  justi- 
fied, and  then  he  works :  —  this  is  not  that  faith  that  is  dead, 
it  purifies  the  heart  and  works  by  love.  Paul  speaks  of 
the  justification  of  a  sinner,  and  James  speaks  of  the  justi- 
fication of  a  saint.  They  both  speak  of  a  true  faith.  Agree- 
ably to  the  view  that  Paul  takes  of  the  subject,  the  charge 
of  sin  is  brought  against  a  sinner  by  the  laiv  of  God,  who 
is  guilty.  How  is  he  to  be  justified  before  God?  Paul 
answers — By  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  without  works.  Ho 
must  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  for  righteousness.  He  must 
be  justified  as  Abraham  was  without  works,  who  believed 
in  God  and  his  faith  was  counted  to  him  for  righteousness. 
Gen.  XV.  6:  Rom.  iv,  3.  God  promised  to  Abraham  af 
ter  he  believed,  that  in  his  seed,  Jesus  Christ,  all  nations 


JUSTIFICATION.  167 

should  be  blessed.  And  Paul  declares  that  they  that  be- 
lieve are  blessed  with  faithful  Abraham.  Their  faith  is 
counted  to  them  for  righteoO^ness  as  his  was.  They  be- 
come the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  and 
are  made  saints  by  the  gracious  provisions  of  the  New 
Covenant,  and  are  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according 
to  the  promise.  Gal.  iii.  29.  The  view  that  James  takes  of 
the  subject  is  quite  a  different  one,  and  relates  to  a  differ- 
ent person.  The  person  that  he  has  in  his  eye  is  a  saint 
and  not  a  sinner.  The  charge  of  hypocrisy  is  brought 
falsely  against  him.  How  is  he  to  be  justified  against 
this  charge?  By  good  works,  or  by  doing  the  v/orks  of 
righteousness .  To  illustrate  this,  he  adduces  the  case  of 
Abraham  long  after  he  had  been  justified  by  faith  without 
works,  as  Paul  describes  it,  and  long  after  he  had  been 
made  the  father  of  the  faithful.  He  asks,  "  was  not  Abra- 
ham our  father  justified  by  works  when  he  had  offered  up 
his  son  upon  the  altar?  Seest  thou  how  faith  wrought 
with  his  works,  and  by  works  was  his  faith  made  perfect? 
And  the  scripture  was  fulfilled,  which  saith,  Abraham  be- 
lieved God,  and  it  v/as  imputed  unto  him  for  righteousness; 
and  he  was  called  the  friend  of  God.  Ye  see,  then,  how 
that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only." 
ch.  ii,  21-24.  It  is  true,  that  when  Abraham  offered  up 
his  son  upon  the  altar,  he  was  justified  by  icorJcs  and  not 
by  faith  only.  But  I  ask  how  was  he  justified  when  he  be- 
lieved in  God  forty  years  before,  and  did  nothing  else? 
Moses  and  Paul  tell  us  that  he  was  justified  by  faith ;  he 
believed,  and  his  faith  was  counted  to  him  for  righteous- 
ness. Gen.  XV,  6:  Rom.  iv,  3.  It  was  on  account  of  his 
being  justified  by  faith  without  works,  that  Abraham  had 
nothing  whereof  to  glory  before  God ;  and  so  it  is  now. 
Rom.  iv,  2,  4,  5,  11,  16.  James  did  not  intend  to  contra- 
dict Moses  and  Paul.     When  he  speaks  of  justiijcation  by 


168  JTJSTIFTCATION. 

works,  he  does  not  nse  the  term  justification  in  the  sense 
q[ forgiveness  of  sins,  as  Paul  does,  when  he  says  that  an 
ungodly  man  or  a  sinner  is  justified  by  faith  without 
works.  At  the  last  judgment,  when  men  shall  be  justified 
by  their  works,  we  have  no  account  of  any  remission  of 
sin  there.  Justification  will  be  declarative  and  remuner- 
ative. The  righteous  will  be  declared  by  their  works  to 
be  righteous,  and  will  receive  a  crown  of  life.  These 
works  will  be  the  works  which  faith  wrought,  and  the 
scripture  will  be  fulfilled  or  rather  illustrated  and  con- 
firmed in  the  same  way  it  was  in  the  case  of  Abraham 
and  Rahab,  by  the  works  of  faith  which  they  did  after 
they  believed,  as  is  the  case  of  every  sincere  believer; 
while  hypocrites  who  in  this  life  prof  ess  faith,  hut  which  is 
alone  and  dead  and  produces  no  fruits  of  righteousness, 
will  be  manifest  and  declared  to  he  hypocrites  by  the  want 
of  the  works  of  faith,  and  by  their  wicked  works.  And 
the  professedly  wicked  will  be  judged  and  condemned  by 
their  works.  A  hypocrite  now  is  known  by  his  want  of 
the  works  of  faith,  or  of  righteousness,  and  he  may  be  a 
hypocrite  or  a  deceived  person,  although  he  may  have 
been  baptized.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  un- 
derstand the  distinction  between  the  account  that  Paul 
gave  of  justification,  and  that  which  James  gave.  Without  it, 
great  confusion  and  error,  and  great  corruptions  in  the 
cliristian  religion,  must  exist.  Ignorance  and  error  on 
this  subject  were,  and  are,  the  causes  of  the  superstition  and 
corruption,  that  exist  among  the  Roman  Catholics.  It  is 
o\ving  to  the  same  causes,  that  among  professedly  Bible 
Christians  in  this  age,  an  opinion  prevails  that  remission 
of  sin  is  by  the  physical  operations  of  the  Spirit,  and 
which  makes  haptism  necessary  to  the  actual  justification 
of  a  sinner  and  ungodly  man,  or  to  the  remission  of  his 
pins. 


JUSTIFICATIOS. 


169 


There  is  actual  gospel  justification,  and  there  is  decla- 
rative gospel  justification.  Of  the  former  Paul  speaks  in 
his  account  of  God  justifying  a  sinner  by  faith  without 
works,  in  order  to  his  introduction,  into  the  fellowship 
and  love  of  God,  Of  the  latter  James  speaks.  The  for- 
mer is  the  justification  of  a  sinner  by  faith.  The  latter 
is  the  justification  of  a  saint,  or  if  you  please,  of  James 
himself,  by  works  and  not  by  faith  only.  James,  who 
had  been  justified  by  faith  without  works,  as  Paul  had 
been,  and  as  all  sinners  are,  who  are  in  the  divine  favour, 
is  now  declared  to  be  a  saint,  or  is  justified  as  a  saint  by 
works  and  not  by  faith  only  —  "  I  will  show"  said  he  "ray 
faith  by  my  v/orks ." 

I  repeat,  that  agreeably  to  Paul's  account  of  the  justifi- 
cation of  an  ungodly  man,  the  charge  of  sin  is  brought 
against  him  by  the  law  of  God.  He  is  guilty,  but  by  the 
grace  or  favour  of  God  provided  in  the  gospel  of  the  New 
Covenant,  he  may  be  justified  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  not  by  works.  This  is  the  righteousness  of  God. 
But  agreeably  to  the  account  James  gives,  the  charge  of 
hypocrisy  is  brought  falsely  against  a  saint,  and  a  true 
believer,  who  had  been  justified  by  faith  without  works. 
He  is  now  justified  by  good  works  against  the  charge  in 
the  sight  of  men,  which  are  declarative  of  his  faith  as 
they  are  the  effects  of  it.  The  faith  by  which  he  had 
previously  been  actually  justified,  manifests  or  proves  it- 
self by  the  good  works  which  it  produces  in  the  view  of 
the  world.  Hence  said  James,  "I  will  show  you  my 
faith  by  my  works. "  Faith  without  works  is  dead,  and  is 
indeed  no  faith,  as  a  man  without  life  is  dead,  and  is  no 
man.  But  it  was  not  by  any  works  of  righteousness  in 
the  sight  of  God,  that  James  or  Paul  had  done,  that  freed 
them  from  the  guilt  in  which  the  gospel  found  them.  They 
were  justified  by  faith  that  it  might  be  by  grace,  "  not  of 
15* 


170  JUSTIFICATION. 

works  lest  they  should  boast."  Hence  a  person  before  he 
can  be  declarativelj/  instiled  before  men  br/  works,  must 
be  actually  justified  hy  faith  iclthout  worlcs  before  God. 
This  was  the  doctrine  the  Apostles  preached,  and  all  who 
believed,  were  baptized  into  this  doctrine  as  an  essential 
gospel  doctrine.  They  did  not  perform  and  submit  to  the 
loork  or  act  of  baptism  that  they  might  be  justified  as  sin- 
ners, or  to  obtain  the  actual  remission  of  their  sins  from 
God,  but,  having  been  justified  by  faith,  or  God  having 
jmrijied  their  hearts  by  faith,  they  were  baptized  into  the 
doctrine  of  remission  through  faith  without  works.  Acts 
XV,  7-9.  By  their  baptism  they  renounced  and  disowned 
every  other  name  and  system  of  religion  but  the  name 
and  system  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  they  had  previously 
believed  with  the  heart.  They  moreover  renounced  all 
works  and  ordinances  of  every  kind,  whether  Jewish  or 
pagan,  or  christian,  moral  or  ceremonial,  including  bap- 
tism itself,  as  having  had  nothing  to  do  in  their  actual 
justification  before  God  as  sinners;  and  they  avouched 
Jesus  Christ  as  their  righteousness,  who  they  received 
by  faith  and  put  on  by  baptism.  Having  been  crucified 
with  Christ  by  faith  in  his  cross,  they  were  buried  with 
him  by  baptism  into  death. 

Luther,  in  saying  that  "the  just  by  faith  shall  live," 
was  violently  opposed  by  the  Roman  Catholic  divines  of 
the  stamp  of  Eckius,  who  said,  "  not  by  faith  only, "  which 
they  added,  as  they  said,  to  prevent  mistakes.  Luther 
objected  to  their  adding  to  the  scriptures,  "not  by  faith 
only,"  because  he  asserted  that  a  life  of  faith  is  a  life  of 
good  works,  and  that  there  are  no  good  works  without  faith, 
good  works  do  not  'produce  faith,  but  faith  produces  good 
morks. 

Luther  says  that  "  the  meaning  of  the  Apostle  is,  not 
that  justified  persons  neglect  good  works,  but  that  their 


JUST1F1CA.T10K.  l7i 

justification  is  prior  to  good  works;  and  that  good  worfe 
can  be  performed  by  justified  perBons  only,'^  living  and 
acting  by  faith. 

Every  true  believer  will  oBey  God  in  all  things,  as  far 
03  he  understands  God's  will  ^  he  will  be  baptized  b^ 
cause  Jesus  Christ  the  author  and  finisher  of  his  faith 
commands  hira.  He  will  be  immersed  if  he  understands 
the  ordinance  as  consisting  in  immersion.  Possessing 
the  spirit  of  obedience  through  faith,  his  desire  is  fo 
abound  in  the  works  of  the  Lord.  But  if  he  fixes  upon 
any  one  rite,  ordinance  or  act,  as  covering  the  ground  ot 
dbedience  —  the  spirit  of  obedience,  will  be  perverted  or 
extinguished  to  that  point. 

Abraham,  through  faith  in  God's  promise  to  make  him 
a  father  of  many  nations  in  his  old  age,  was,  by  God  con- 
stituted the  father  of  all  true  believers  in  Jesus  Christy 
who  was  the  seed  of  Abraham  to  whom  the  premise  was 
made.     Gen.  xv,  5:  Rom.  iv,  16-24:  Gal.  iii,  16. 

What  was  necessary  to  Abraham's  justification  and  to 
his  constitution  as  the  father  of  the  faithful,  is  necessary 
to  the  justification  of  sinners  now,  by  which  they  are,  in 
the  divine  constitution  of  things,  made  the  children  of 
Abraham.  Children  derive  their  nature  from  their  pa- 
rents, and  not  parents  from  their  children.  "If  Abra- 
ham was  justified  by  works,  he  hath  whereof  to  glory,  but 
not  before  God.  For  v/hat  saith  the  scripture?  Abrar 
ham  believed  in  God,  and  it,  his  faith,  was  counted  to  him 
for  righteousness.  Gen.  xv.  6.  Now  to  him  that  workr 
eth  is  the  reward  not  reckoned  of  grace  but  of  debt.  Bal 
to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  him  that  justifieth 
the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  to  him  for  righteousness.^ 
Eom.  iv,  2-5.  Faith  was  counted  to  Abraham  for  rightiB- 
^^usness  before  he  was  circumcised  twenty-four  year?,  aod 
lie  received  the  sign  of  circumcision,    a   seal  of    U$ 


ITS  JUSTIFICATION. 

righteousness  of  the  faith,  or  a  seal  of  his  justification  by 
faith,  which  he  had  before  he  was  circumcised,  that  ke 
might  he  the  father  of  all  them  that  believe. 

"Justification  is  therefore  of  faith,  that  it  might  be  by 
grace,  to  the  end  that  the  promise  might  be  sure  to  all  the 
seed  —  to  all  that  are  of  the  faith  of  Abraham,  who  is  the 
father  of  all  that  believe." 

If  faith  without  baptism  justified  Abraham,  and  made 
or  qualified  him  to  be  the  father  of  all  them  that  believe, 
so  faith  without  baptism,  justifies  his  spiritual  seed;  for 
what  was  essential  to  his  righteousness  or  justification  and 
blessing,  is  essential  to  the  righteousness  or  justification 
and  blessing  of  his  spiritual  seed.  If  baptism  is  necessary 
now  to  the  actual  justification  of  a  sinner  in  the  sight  of 
God,  it  was  necessary  to  the  justification  of  father  Abra- 
ham in  the  sight  of  God,  because  their  faith  and  righteous- 
ness are  the  same. 

The  actings  and  doings  of  Abraham  under  the  inflU' 
ence  of  that  faith  by  which  he  was  justified  and  made  the 
father  of  all  them  that  believe,  were  diflTerent  from  the 
actino-s  and  doings  of  his  spiritual  seed  under  the  christian 
dispensation,  because  they  are  by  the  will  of  God  placed 
under  different  circumstances.  Sinners  are  justified  by 
faith  as  Abraham  was,  and  the  just  by  faith  shall  live. 
They  all  live  by  faith,  but  the  rule  of  conduct  is  different 
as  God's  will  is  different  from  what  it  was  under  the  patri- 
archal state.  Abraham's  circumcision  was  not  necessary 
to  his  justification,  because  he  was  justified  before  he  was 
circumcised,  neither  is  it  necessary  to  the  justification  of 
his  spiritual  seed.  It  was  his  duty  to  be  circumcised  after 
he  was  justified,  because  God  commanded  it,  but  it  is  not 
necessary  to  his  spiritual  seed  after  they  believe  to  b© 
circumcised,  because  God  has  not  commanded  it  to  thonj» 
Abraham  was  justified  by  faith  without  baptism,  and  it 


JtfSTIFICATION.  178 

was  not  his  duty  to  be  baptized  after  he  was  justified  by 
faith,  because  God  did  not  command  it.  Sinners  are  now 
jjistified  by  faith  as  Abraham  was  without  baptism,  blU 
God  makes  it  their  duty  after  they  are  justified  by  faith  iH 
Jesus  Christ,  to  be  baptized  into  Ids  name,  and  to  put  hiii} 
an.  He  is  the  promised  seed  of  Abraham,  in  whom  thre 
nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed,  and  in  him  all  trUB 
believers  are  one.  ''Ye  are  the  children  of  God  by  faith 
in  Christ  Jesus,  and  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptiz* 
ed  into  Christ,  have  put  on  Christ.  There  is  neither  Jew 
nt3r  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  neithejr 
male  nor  female :  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  And 
if  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed  and  heir, 
Recording  to  the  promise."     Gal.  iii,  26-29. 

Neither  the  baptism  of  Abraham's  spiritual  seed,  nor 
the  circumcision  of  Abraham  as  their  spiritual  Father,  con 
stitute  any  part  of  their  justification  as  sinners  before  God 
ur  of  the  actual  remission  of  their  sins.  And  therefore, 
true  believers  in  Jesus  Christ,  who  differ  about  baptism 
and  other  things,  are  notwithstanding,  the  children  of  QoA 
by  faith  in  him,  and  are  Abraham's  seed  and  heirs  accord- 
ing to  the  promise. 

The  just  by  faith  shall  live.  But  justification  by  faith 
does  not  make  the  individuals  justified  by  faith  infallihh 
and  perfect  in  their  judgment  about  baptism  or  any  thing 
dse.  Those  who  practice  immersion  as  baptism,  and  who 
regard  believers  the  only  proper  subjects  of  it,  do  not 
daim  to  themselves  infallibility.  And  there  is  as  great  a 
diversity  of  opinion  among  them,  and  in  some  things  a 
much  greater  one,  than  there  is  between  orthodox  baptists 
and  pedo-baptists.  The  old  protestant  baptists  and  pedo- 
baptists  agree  in  their  views  of  justification  by  faith  with- 
out baptism.  The  former  have  copied  into  their  confes- 
irfon  of  faith  the  doctrinal  principles  of  the  latter  out  of 


174  JtrSTlMCATION. 

their  confession,  of  which  that  of  justification  is  a  most 
prominent  one.  See  the  Presbyterian  and  Baptist  confes- 
sions of  faith.  They  esteem  the  atonement  and  divinity  of 
Christ  essential  to  the  christian  religion.  While  there  arc 
others  who  practice  immersion  for  baptism,  and  regard  be- 
lievers as  the  only  subjects,  who  deny  the  propitiatory  suf- 
ferings of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  vicarious  death  altogether,  or 
that  they  have  any  thing  to  do  in  that  system  of  grace,  ac- 
cording to  which  sinners  are  freely  justified  by  faith. 
They  require  faith  and  obedience,  that  is,  baptism,  in  or- 
der to  the  remission  of  their  sins;  but  deny  that  the  blood 
of  Christ  has  any  thing  to  d^,  in  the^divine  government,  in 
the  pardon  of  sin,  and  deny  that  it  is  revealed  in  the  word 
of  God  1  Belief  i/2  something  and  in  baptism  in  order  to  re- 
mission, and  obedience  by  baptism  or  by  immersion  ^  secures 
the  remission  of  their  sins,  or  justifies  them  as  sinners 
without  the  blood  of  Christ.  Remission  of  sins  in  their 
judgment  is,  by  divine  appointment,  suspended  upon  faith 
and  the  act  of  immersion,  to  the  exclusion  altogether  of  the 
sacrificial  death  and  expiatory  ofiering  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  These  things  show  that  the  prac- 
tice of  believers,  baptism  does  not  secure  its  votaries 
against  extravagant  errors. 

Abraham,  was  constituted  the  father  of  the  faithful  when 
he  believed  the  promise  of  God  of  a  numerous  offspring  in 
a  very  advanced  old  age;  and  true  believers  in  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  Abraham's  seed,  to  whom  the  promise  was 
made,  (Gal.  iii,  16,)  are  made  the  spiritual  children  of 
Abraham.  Upon  them  the  blessing  of  Abraham  has  come 
through  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  receive  the  promise  of  the 
spirit  through  faith.  Gal.  iii.  14.  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Gos- 
pel is  the  only  object  of  justifying  faith;  he  was  made  a 
sin  offering  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  in  him.    It  is  not  every  thing,  nor  Qvery  sort 


JUSTIFICATION.  175 

of  being  that  is  called  Christ,  that  is  the  object  of  saving 
faith,  for  the  belief  of  which  people  are  to  be  baptized. 
He  has  himself  guarded  us  against  false  prophets  and  false 
Christs.  Math,  xxiv,  24.  The  Christ  in  the  gospel,  into 
whom  true  believers  are  commanded  to  be  baptized,  who  is 
the  object  of  saving  faith,  concerning  the  flesh,  or  his  hu- 
man nature,  came  from  the  fathers,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  and^who,  concerning  his  divinity,^  is  over  all,  God 
blessed  forever.  Amen.  Rom.  ix,  5.  The  object  of  sav- 
ing faith,  must  have  power  to  save.  This  power  Christ 
obtained,  and  possesses  through  his  own  death ;  therefore? 
Christ  crucified,  who  died  for  the  ungodly  and  sinners,  and 
by  whose  blood  they  are  justified,  is  the  object  of  saving 
faith:  he  has  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  and  is  ex- 
alted a  Prince  and  Saviour  to  give  repentance  and  remis- 
sion of  sin. 

Although  Paul  has  said  nothing  in  respect  to  the  justifi- 
cation of  a  sinner  and  ungodly  man,  by  which  he  is  made 
a  saint,  but  only  a  true  and  a  living  faith,  and  by  wiiich 
he  is  for  the  first  time  introduced  into  the  divine  favour, 
yet  that  faith  does  not  shut  out  its  consequences,  reforma- 
tion, hope,  love,  and  the  fear  of  God,  and  good  works,  and 
attention  and  submission  to  the  ordinances  and  command- 
ments of  the  gospel.  These  are  only  excluded  from  th© 
office  of  justifying  a  5mwer,  and  in  making  him  a  rio-hteouF 
man.  That  faith,  that  does  not  prompt  ^to  obedience,  ig 
worth  nothing,  notwithstanding  the  person  may  have  been 
baptized.  Neither  does  the  justification  of  a  sinner  bv  faith 
without  works,  shut  out  the  justice  of  God  in  requiring 
good  works  afterwards  to  be  done.  For  it  is  by  faith  that 
good  works  can  be  performed,  as  it  is  by  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  that  we  are  made  new  creatures,  and  are  qualified 
for  doing  good  works  that  are  pleasing  to  God.  ^ 'By  grace 
ye  are  saved  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it 


176  JTJSTllICATION, 

is  the  gift  of  God  J  not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast." 
This  is  justification  and  is  thefoundation — and  we  are  his 
workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works,  for 
which  God  hath  prepared  us  by  justification  and  a  change 
cfif  heart,  that  we  should  walk  in  them,  —  this  is  sanctificor 
Hon,  or  the  superstructure  of  the  edifice. 

Faith  is  the  fruitful  principle  of  all  good  loorks.  And 
every  true  believer  is  inclined  to  do  good  works,  and  finds 
his  happiness  in  them,  though  he  does  not  expect  to  be  sav- 
ed/br  them.  The  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  without 
works,  is  felt  by  every  true  believer  to  give  all  its  spirit 
and  scope  to  the  new  obedience  of  the  gospel.  Under  the 
sacred  and  constraining  influence  of  that  faith,  by  which 
Ood  purifes  the  heart,  and  which  worJcs  hy  love,  the  ques- 
tion is  not  how  much  must  I  do  to  escape  punishment,  of 
to  obtain  salvation,  but  "  what  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord 
for  all  his  benefits  to  me?"  In  all  ages  those  who  have 
practically  received  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
without  works,  have  been  more  distinguished  than  any 
others  for  doing  good  works,  and  for  denying  themselves 
of  all  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts.  This  was  pre-emi- 
nently the  case  with  Abraham  and  Paul,  and  has  been 
with  all  of  Abraham's  spiritual  seed,  down  to  this  day,  and 
ia  that  by  which  the  true  spiritual  seed  of  Abraham  are 
distinguished  from  others. 

Some  seem  to  think  that  God  justifies  sinners  by  the 
physical  operations  of  the  Spirit,  as  Naaman  was  cured  of 
the  leprosy,  when  he  washed  in  the  Jordan,  and  they  re» 
ly  upon  the  act  of  baptism  for  it.  They  seem  not  to  know 
that  justification  is  a  gvdicions  judicial  act  of  God,  and  not 
a  physical  one.  The  spiritual  moral  acts  of  God  are  dif- 
ferent from  his  spiritual  j>/t7/5icaZ  ones.  This  opinion  of  jua^ 
tification  by  the  physical  agency  of  the  Spirit  is  subve> 
divo  of  the  whole  gospel  system  of  religion  as  far  as  it 


JUSTIFICATION.  /     -»         17 


operates.  It  destroys  its  moral  nature  and  character,  and 
makes  it  physical.  The  difference  between  God  justify- 
ing a  sinner  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  physi- 
cal agencies  of  the  Spirit,  is  as  great  as  is  the  difference 
between  the  Governor  of  this  Commonwealth  pardoning 
a  felon,  or  a  judge  acquitting  a  criminal  at  the  bar,  and  a 
physician  curing  the  cholera  or  an  eruptive  fever.  Those 
teachers  of  the  christian  religion  who  entertain  this  opin- 
ion, must  of  necessity  feel  but  little  concern  about  the  true 
sense  and  meaning  of  the  word  of  the  go|pel  as  the 
means  of  faith,  which  sinners  must  understand  and  truly 
and  cordially  believe  in  order  to  their  justification,  and 
labour  for  physical  agency,  and  ceremonial  rites  to  effect 
it.  This  accounts  for  a  great  many  peculiarities  which 
have  appeared  in  the  religious  opinions  and  practices 
eince  the  age  of  the  Apostles,  as  to  the  design  and  use 
of  preaching  and  praying,  and  of  the  meanhig  and  effects 
of  baptism,  which  cannot  be  found  in  the  Apostolic  wri- 
tings. 

It  is  a  most  destructive  error  in  theology  to  confound 
justification  with  sanctification.  This  is  the  great  master 
error  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  Its  deadly  hostility  to 
gospel  truth,  intelligence  and  purity,  is  seen  in  all  that  ig- 
norance, superstition,  corruption  and  cruelty,  which  have 
marked  the  whole  history  of  popery. 

The  following  were  some  of  the  decrees  which  were 
passed  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Council  at  Trent,  held  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  which  were  designed  to  oppose  the 
principles  of  the  Protestant  Reformation: 

' '  Whosoever  shall  affirm  that  those  words  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  unless  a  man  be  born  again  of  water  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  (John  iii,  5)  are  to  be  figuratively  inter- 
preted: let  him  be  accursed. 
16 


178  JUSTIFICATION. 

'•'Whosoever  shall  affirm  that  baptism  is  not  necessary 
to  salvation:  let  him  be  accursed. 

"  Whosoever  shall  affirm  that  the  ungodly  is  justified 
by  faith  only,  so  that  nothing  else  is  to  be  required  to  co- 
operate there\Vith,  in  order  to  obtain  justification:  let  him 
be  accursed. 

"Whosoever  shall  affirm  that  justifying  faith  is  nothing 
else  than  confidence  in  the  divine  mercy,  by  which  sins 
are  forgiven  for  Christ's  sake:  let  him  be  accursed." 

The  foll^vving  were  the  sentiments  of  the  Protestants 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  as  opposed  to  the  Roman  Ciitho- 
lics,  on  the  subject  of  justification,  and  are  found  in  all 
their  confessions  of  faith:  — 

"God justifies  the  true  believers  freely,  not  by  infusing 
righteousness  into  them,  but  by  pardoning  their  sins  and 
by  accounting  and  accepting- their  persons  as  righteous; 
not ybr  any  tJiing  rcronght  in  them  or  done  by  them,  but 
for  Christ's  sake  alone,  they  receiving  and  resting  on  his 
righteousness  by  faith.  Faith,  thus  receiving. and  resting 
on  Christ  and  his  righteousness,  is  the  alone  instrument  of 
jusiifcation;  yet  it  is  not  alone  in  the  person  justified, 
but  is  ever  accompanied  with  all  other  saving  graces  and 
is  no  dead  fjiilh,  but  worketh  by  love." 

None  can  be  justified  by  works  until  they  are  justified 
by  faith  without  works.  The  gospel  proclamation  of 
peace  and  good  will  towards  man  from  God,  is  based  in  the 
atonement  —  in  ^'  Christ  and  him  crucifed,'^^  as  sinners 
are  justified  by  believing  in  him.  God  speaks  to  man  as 
he  sees  him,  a  guiltj'^  polluted  helpless  sinncrj  and  accord- 
ing to  his  own  gracious  purpose  towards  him.  He  there- 
fore speaks  to  him  by  the  gospel  through  the  atonement 
and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ.  -  Of  what  advantage  would 
spiritual  instruction  be  to  a  sinner,  which  does  not  bring 
with  it  the  glad  tidings  of  pardon?     What  view  of  the  di- 


JUSTIFICATION.  179 

vine  character  could  be  nianifestcd4o  a  sinner,  that  would 
not  tei-rify  or  consume  him,  pr  that  could  in  any  degree 
lead  hira  to  repentance,  and  reconcile-  him  to  God,  except 
the  gospel  view,  which  proclaims  grace  and  forgiveness, 
through  the  expiatory  sufferings  and  death,  and  mediation 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  every  true  believer?  The  revelations 
and  communications  of  God  since  the  fall,  have  been 
made  to  our  world  according  to  his  purpose  and  grace, 
given. to  us  in  Christ  before  the^  v/orld  began. 

The  Apostles  in  preaching  the  gospel  under  the  com- 
mission given  to  them,  by  Jesus  Christ,  never  preached 
the  law  to  justify  and  convert  sinners.  Nor 'did  they  seem 
to  expect  that  the  Spirit  would  convert  or  regenerate  sin- 
ners in  their  sins  by  any  operation.  They  were  all  in 
their  sins  until  they  believed.  They  considered  that  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  the  truth  believed,  concern- 
ing him,  was  itself  the  spiritual  birth,  and  secured  the 
-divine  favour  and  all  evangelical  blessings  and  privileges, 
to  the  sincere  enlightened  believer,  as  it  was  the  living 
principle  of  union  with  God,  and  of  a  holy,  obedient  life. 
They  always  preached  to  the  people  that  they  might  be- 
lieve, and  that  believing  they  might  be  saved.  They 
preached  to. them  by  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from 
heaven.  It  was  the  Spirit  of  God  that  was  in  them,  who 
spoke  in  and  by  them,  the  things  of  God,  concerning  Je- 
sus Christ,  in  his  own  words,  which  gave  to  the  people 
spiritual  discernment,  and  enabled  them  to  receive  them. 

The  Spirit  was  not  given  until  Jesus  Christ  was  glori- 
fied through  his  own  death.  And  when  the  Spirit  came 
he  glorified  Jesus  Christ  in  all  that  he  said  and  did,  by  his 
inspirations,  revelations,  and  miraculous  works  bestowed 
upon  and  performed  by  the  Apostles,  which  were  all  re- 
ceived and  performed  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
Spirit  now  speaks  to  mankind,  not  by  the  living  voice  of 


180  JUSTIFICATION, 

the  Apostles,  but  through  their  word,  or  rather  through  hu 
own  word,  spoken  diW^  written  hy  them.  It  is  now  founvj 
in  the  written  oracles,  and  possesses  the  same  limng  sensd 
and  meaning  {ha.t  it  did  when  first  revealed,  and  is  intend- 
ed by  the  divine  constitution  of  things  in  the  New  Cove- 
nant, to  produce  the  same  spiritual  ideas  and  views,  and 
the  same  divine  faith,  that  it  did  produce  when  spoken  by 
the  Apostles;  "these  things  are  written  that  ye  rnighc  be- 
lieve that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that 
believing  ye  might  have  life  through  his  name."  And  it 
"is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  to  them  that  believe." 
We  are  justified  freely  by  the  grace  of  God  through  the 
redemption  there  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  whom  he  hath  set 
forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  de- 
clare his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins,  —  that  he 
might  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Je- 
sus." Rom.  iiij  24-26,  Nothing  can  justify  a  sinner  by 
being  received,  that  is  not  by  divine  appointment  a  sin- 
offering.  Christ  was  made  sin  for  us  that  we  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him.  But  baptism  does 
not  justify  the  ungodly,  because  it  is  not  a  sin-offering. 
Christ  and  him  crucified,  is  the  object  of  saving  faith; 
that  object  is  made  known  by  the  revelation  in  the  gospel- 
He  shed  his  blood /or  the  remission  of  sin  and  without  it 
there  is  no  remission.  God  purifies  the  heart  through 
faith  in  his  blood. 

No  person  can  have  right  views  and  feelings  on  the 
subject  of  God's  righteousness,  in  the  justification  of  a 
sinner,  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  without  just  and  true 
riews  of  sin  and  of  the  purity  and  holiness  of  God;  nor 
can  he  have  right  views  of  the  gospel.  He  must  realize 
his  own  guilt,  to  believe  with  the  heart  unto  righteous- 
ness. He  must  view  our  world  ruined  by  sin.  To  this 
source  he  must  trace  all  the  pains  and  sufferings  of  mind 


JUSTIFICATION.  181 

and   body  and  death  itself.     He  must  view  the  ruiii  of 
fallen   angels  in  hell,  and  finally  impenitent  men,  in  the 
lake  of  fire  which  is  the  secopd  death,  and  he  must  place 
himself  bef3re  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ  as  it  is  devel- 
oped in  the  word  of  God,  before  he  can  have  suitably  af- 
fecting, or  any  thing  like  competent  views  of  the  nature 
of  sin,  and  before  he  can   appreciate  the  atonement  and 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  feelingly  apprehend  the  in- 
finite ralue  and  suitableness  of  God's  method  of  saving 
sinners,  by  grace,  through  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Every  person  that  has  justifying  faith,  has  felt  his  guilt 
and  helplessness,  and  perceives  the  excellence,  suitable- 
ness   and  necessity  of  Jesus   Christ  as  Saviour,    to  his 
lost  condition  as  a  sinner,  and  belie'ves  in  and  relies  upon 
him  for  pardon  and  salvation.     In  this  case  the  truly  be- 
lieving and  repenting  sinner,  is  taken  into  the  divine  fa- 
vour, without  a  degrading  compromise  between  the  purity 
and  holiness  of  God,  and  the  guilt  and  impurity  of  man. 
The  purity  and  holiness  and  justice  of  the  divine  charac- 
ter and  government,  are  maintained  and  gloriously  dis- 
played, in  the  exercise  of  grace  and  mercy  in  the  free 
pardon    of  sin,  through  the  propitiatory   sufferings   and 
death,  and  expiatory  offering  of  Jesus  Christ.     And  the 
true  believer,  who  is  thus  received  into  the  divine  favour, 
feels  himself  under  an  everlasting  debt  of  love  to  divine 
mercy  and  grace,  and  the  love  of  Christ  constrains  him 
to  obedience.      He  prefers   doing  good  works,  though  he 
is  justified  by  grace  through  faith  without  works.     Nor 
would  he  prefer  going  to  heaven,  if  it  were  practicable, 
in  the  neglect  of  duty  or  good  works,  or  to  his  being  made 
abundantly  fruitful  in  them.     He  feels  it  to  be  his  priv- 
ilege, duty  and  happiness   to  be  engaged  in  doing  good 
works,  because  it  is  the  will  of  God   that  he  should  do 
them.    The  law  of  God  is  written  upon  his  heart,  through 
16* 


182 


JUSTIFICATION. 


faith  in  the  gospel,  and  it  is  his  meat  and  drink  to  do  his 
will.  He  loves  God  supremely,  and  longs  to  love  him 
perfectly.  He  loves  his  neighbor  greatly,  and  desires  to 
love  him  absolutely  as  himself.  He  loves  the  household 
of  faith,  because  it  is  composed  of  the  children  of  God. 
His  affections  and  fellowship  are  not  limited  by  sectarian 
views,  and  by  a  party  spirit,  if  he  stands  fast  in  the  liber- 
ty wherewith  Christ  hath  made  him  free,  because  he  is 
under  the  law  of  love,  which   is  the  law  of  Christ. 

A  tender  mother  will  not  decline  the  most  self-denying 
attention  to  her  darling  child,  because  she  is  not  as  a 
hireling  nurse,  to  receive  wages  for  her  labour  and  trou- 
ble: nor  would  she  injure  it,  even  if  she  could  bo  assured 
that  she  would  escape  all  punishment.  Love  would  suf- 
fice in  both  cases.  A  servant  works  for  hire;  and  a  slave 
from  fear  of  punishment,  each  alike  from  mere  self-love, 
even  when  they  dislike  both  their  master  and  their  work. 
But  a  dutiful,  affectionate  sen,  \yill  labour  for  his  father,  and 
for  the  benefit  and  honour  of  his  family,  with  alacrity 
from  love,  because  he  accounts  their  interest  and  credit 
and  comfort  in  some  respects  his  own.  Nor  will  he  need 
to  be  deterred  by  fear  of  punishment  from  doing  those 
things  which  he  knows  will  displease  his  kind  and  hon- 
oured father,  and  injure  his  respectable,  affectionate  famih\ 
This  is  the  precise  difference  between  ''  the  spirit  of 
bondage,"  and  "the  spirit  of  adoption;"  between  those 
whose  hearts  have  not  been  purified  through  faith  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  and  those  who?e  hearts  have  been  thus 
purified.  The  latter  have  not  received  the  spirit  of  bon- 
dage again  to  fear — but  the  spirit  of  adoption,  whereby 
they  cry  Abba  Father.  And  thus  by  possessing  filial 
confidence,  reverence,  and  love,  the  Spirit  himself  wit- 
nesselh  with  their  spirits,  that  they  are  the  sons  of  God. 


ESSAY    XI 


THE    NEW    BIRTH. 


The  meaning  of  the  phrnses  "Born  again  —  Born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit — Born  of  God  —  and  the  New  Birth." 

In  the  change  of  the  heart  from  enmity  to  the  love  of 
God  —  from  a  carnal  niinJ,  to  spiritual  mindedness,  through 
the  faith  of  the  gospel,  whether  it  be  prodaced  by  the  im- 
mediate physical  operations  of  the  Spirit,  or  by  the  moral 
operations  of  God  by  the  word  of  his  grace  through  the 
atonement  of  Christ,  the  change  is  a- real  spiritual  one  — 
one  that  forms  a  most  important  period  in  the  life  of  the 
subject  of  it,  and  one  of  which  he  is  conscious  when 
he  compares  the  present  state  of  his  views,  desires  and 
feelings  under  the  light  of  God's  word,  with  what  they 
were  before  ihe  change  took  place;  there  is  that  in  him 
which  makes  him  a  new  creature. 

Much  difficulty  and  obscurity  have  rested  upon  the  ex- 
pressions "born  again  —  born  of  water  —  born  of  the 
Spirit,  and  born  of  God,"  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
following  are  suggestions  which  I  make  for  the  considera- 
tion of  others,  after  having  examined  the  subject  as  well 
as  I  could. 

In  the  conversation  of  Christ  with  Nichoderaus,  when 
he  used  the  expression  "born  again  —  born  of  water  — 
and  born  of  the  Spirit,"  and  the  language  used  by  all  the 
Apostles  when   speaking  and  writing  on  the  subject  of 


184  THE    NEW    BIRTH. 

being  horn  again,  we  must  remember  that  they  were  all 
Jews;  and  when  speaking  to  Jews  used  words  and  phrases 
ao-reeably  to  Jewish  views  and  in  a  Jewish  sense. 

In  the  language  of  the  old  testament,  the  Jewish  nation 
were  said  to  have  been  horn  of  God  and  hegotten  of  him; 
to  have  been  created  and  made  by  him.  These  forms  of 
Fpeech  were  used  to  express  the  high  distinction  and  hon. 
orthat  were  conferred  upon  them,  en  account  of  being  the 
natural  seed  of  Abraham,  through  Isaac  and  Jacob  and 
the  twelve  patriarchs,  and  on  account  of  their  being  incor- 
porated on  the  Sinai  Covenant,  as  the  Commonwealth  of 
Israel  and  church  of  God  under  that  covenant  and  laws,  and 
God's  peculiar  care  over  them  as  a  nation,  in  distinction 
from  the  Gentiles.  All  vvho  were  born  the  natural  seed  of 
Abraham,  under  that  covenant,  were  said  to  have  been 
born  to  God. 

The  following  are  old  testament  expressions  relative  to 
the  religious  birth  of  carnal  and  typical  Israel  under  the 
old  covenant,  who,  Christ  said,  must  ha  horn  again — born 
of  water  and  of  the  spirit,  in  order  to  discern  and  enter  in- 
to the  spiritual  reign  or  kingdom  of  God  based  upon  the 
new  covenant,  which  he  came  to  establish  by  his  death: 
<'  Do  ye  thus  requite  the  Lord,  O  foolish  people  and  un- 
wise? is  not  he  thy  Father  that  hn.i\\  h ought  Xheet  hath 
he  noi made  thee?*'  "Of  the  Rock  that  hegat  thee  thou 
art  unmindful."  Deut.  xxxii,  6,  18.  "Doubtless  thou 
art  our  Father,  though  Abraham  be  ignorant  of  us,  and  Is- 
rael acknowledge  us  not;  thou,  O  Lord,  uri  our  Father, 
our  Redeemer;  thy  name  is  from  everlasting."  Isa.  Ixiii. 
63,  IG.  "Have  we  not  all  one  Father;  hatli  not  God  creor 
ted  usV   Mai.  ii,  10. 

As  the  whole  body  of  the  Jews  were  the  children  of  one 
Father,  even  of  God,  this  naturally  established  among 
themselves  the   universal  relation  of  brethren,   and  they 


THE    NEW    BIRTH.  185 

were  obliged  to  consider  and  deal  with  each  other  accord- 
ingly. Levit.  XXV,  46;  Deut.  i,  16;  ch.  iii.  8:  xv,  7. 

The  Israelites  being  the  family  of  God,  he  is  styled 
their  God  and  Governor;  protector  or  king;  and  they  his 
people,  subjects  or  servants.  "Ye  shall,  be  unto  me  a 
kingdom  of  priests  nnd  a  holy  nat'wn.'^'^  Exod.  x\\.  6. 
"  Hath  God  assayed  to  go  and  take  him  «  nation  from  the 
midst  of  another  nation?"  Deut.  iv,  34.  "  Hearken  unto 
me,  my  people,  and  give  ear  unto  me,  7ny  nation.'*''  Isa.  li,  4. 

Moses  having  been  appointed  by  God  to  be  the  lawgiver 
and  leader  of  Israel,  they  were  said  to  be  baptized  into 
Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,  by  which  they  were  dis- 
tinguished from  all  other  people,  and  were  consecrated  to 
God,  imder  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  1  Cor.  x,  3.  By  this 
they  come  under  a  formal  obligation  to  submit  themselves 
implicitly  to  the  authority  of  Moses,  and  to  receive  his  doc- 
trines and  kvvS. 

As  other  nations  of  the  world  did  not  belong  unto  this 
city,  commonwealth  or  kingdom,  and  so  were  not  GocVs  sub- 
jects and  people,  in  the  same  peculiar  se'nse  that  the  Jews 
were,  for  these  reasons  they  Were  frequently  represented 
as  strangers  ^nd^ foreigners,  and  aliens, ^nd  as  being  not  a 
people.  And  as  they  served  other  god^,  and  were  idola- 
ters, they  are  termed  enemies.  Exod.  xx,  10:  Levit.  xxv, 
47.  Deut.  xiv,  21 :  Eph.  ii:  Col.  i,  21. 

All  the  above  expressions  of  high  distinction  and  hon- 
or were  conferred  upon  the  Jewish  nation  without  refer- 
ence to  any  actual  spiritual  qualif  cations  which  they  pos_ 
gessed,  and  only  on  account  of  their  being  the  natural  off. 
spring  of  Abraham,  and  of  their  being  incorporated  upon 
the  old  typical  covenant,  and  placed  under  the  laws  and 
ordinances  which  belonged  to  it  by  the  authority  of  God, 
"  the  whole  service  of  which  stood  only  in  meats  and 
drinks  and  diverse  warnings  and  carnal  ordinances  impos- 


18G  THE    NEW    DIRTH. 

ed  on  them  until  (lie  tiice  of  rcfoiniation."  Hcb.  ix,  10. 
In  regard  to  the  time  of  refcrmaticn,  the  old  testament 
writers  abound  with  predictions  of  the  new  or  spiritual 
cQvcnmit  and  church  and  kingdom  of  Christ,  a  new  crea- 
tion under  xanous  forms  of  expression,  of  which  some  are 
the  following:  Isa.  xlii,  1, 4,  G,  8:  ch.  Ixv,  17:  Jerm.  xxxi, 
oi,7.4:  Comp.  with  Il.eh.  viii  and  ch.x,  1,  18:  Psal.  ii,  1, 
2,G,  7:  Dan!,  vii,  13,14:  Acts  xlii,  32,33.  Notwith- 
standing the  high  terms  of  honor  and  distinction  bestowed 
Kpon  the  Jewish  nation  and  people  in, the  old  testament  by 
God  on  account  of  their  being  Jews  by  nature  and  not  sin- 
ners of  the  Gentiles,  and  whick  never  w"ere  or  could  be  ap 
plied  to  the  Gentiles,  when  the  new  covenant  and  church 
were  established  v/iih  uji  the  spiritual  blessings  and  privi- 
leges which  belong  to  it,  embracing  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews 
in  its  gracious  provisions  and  blcssingr!,the  oldcovenantand 
the  Jevv'ish  chiH'ch,  were  lilieried  to  Hager  and  her  bond 
ton,  who  was^borri  after  the  flesh,  in  comparison  to  Sarah 
and  her  free  born  son,  who  \yas  born  after  the  spirit,  Gal. 
iv,  22,  a.nsvvering  to  the  new  covenant  and  church  of 
Christ.  Tl^e  Jews  who  had  lecn  born  after  the  flesh  into 
the  old  carnal  covenant,  which  gendered  to  bondage,  and 
were  only  the  typical  children  and  church  of  God,  these, 
Christ  said,  must  be  born  again,  born  into  the  new  cove- 
nant, or  into  thccovcnantof  the  spirit.  This  new  birth  wag 
not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  vv  ill  of  the  (icsh,  nor  of  the  will  of 
man,  as  the  birth  of  the  Jewish  nation  had  been,  but  of 
God  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lord  of  that  covenant. 
It  is  called  the  covcnx;nt,of  the  spirit, .2  Cor.  iii,  6,  for  the 
reasons  stated  in  the  Essay  on  the  New  Covenant.  Ciirist 
taught  NiChodemus  that  unlessa  mail  be  born  again,  though 
a  Jew,  he  could  not  discern  the  Icingdom  of  God;  and  un- 
less he  were  born  of  water  and  of  the  spirit,  he  could  not 
^  enter  into  or  enjoy  it.  John  iii.  3,  5.     This  kingdom  of  God 


THE    NEW    EIRTH.  187 

is  a  spiritual  kingdom,  which  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the 
world  toestabjish  upon  the  new  covenant. 

With  a  view  to  the  figarative  meaning  of  water,  as  used 
by  Moses  and  the  propliets  in  ike  old  testament,  to  describe 
the  gospel  and  its  purifying  efFecjs  upon  believers  under  tho 
dispensation  of  the  spirit  in  justifying  sinners  and  in  purify- 
ing their  hearts,  I  a.^k  ought  not  Nichodemus  as  a  teacher  in 
Israel,  to  have  understood  what  Christ  meant  when  he  said 
to  him  that,  except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  spirit, 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God?  Nichodemus 
ought  to  have  known  whn,t  Moses  and  the  prophets  had 
said  about  the  nev/  covenant  and  the  reign  of  Messiah  un. 
der  the  gospel.  Various  forms  of  expression  were  used 
by  them  to  signify  the  purity  and  spirituality  of  the  gospel 
in  its  effects  in  justifying  sinners,  and  sanctifying  the  hu- 
man heart,  and  in  destroying  idolatry  and  pollution.  In 
these  predictions  and  reprepentations  nothing  could  be 
more  appropriate  than  the  use  of  water  as  expressive  of  the 
influence  of  the  word  of  the  gospel-  of  God's  grace,  or  the 
word  of  the  covenant  of  tho  spirit,  as  it  is  termed  by  Paul, 
2  Cor.  iii,  6,  in  purifying  the  heart  from  sin  and  the  world 
from  idolatr}'. 

The  following  are  a  fov/  of  ihe  predictions  and  prophe- 
cies in  the  old  testament,  vvhich  Nichodemys  ought  to  have 
understood :  "Give  ear,  O  ye  heavens,  and  Iv/ill  speak;  and 
hear,  O  earth,  the  words  of  my  mouth.  My  doctrines  shall 
drop  as  the  rain,  my  speech  shall  distil  as  the  dew,  as  the 
small  rain  upon  the  tender  borb,  and  as  the  showers  upon 
the  grass:  because  I  will  publish  the  name  of  the  Lord;  as- 
cribe ye  greatness  to  our  God.  Pie  is  the  Rock,  his  work 
is  perfect,  for  all  his  ways  are  jvidgment:  a  God  of  truth 
without  iniquity ;  just  and  right  is  he. "  Deut.  xxxii,  1-4. 

"Thou  visitest  the  earth  and  waterest  it;  thou  greatly 
enrichest  it  with  the  river  of  God,  which  is  full  of  water." 
Psal  xlv,  9. 


188  THE    NEW    BIRTH. 

"  He  shall  come  down  like  rain  upon  the  new  mown 
grass,  and  showers  that  water  the  earth.  In  his  day  shall 
the  righteous  flourish,  and  abundance  of  peace  so  long  as 
the  moon  cndureth."  Psaj.  Ixxii,  6,  7. 
-  "In  the  wilderness  shall  waters  break  out,  and  streams 
in  the  desert,  and  the  parched  ground  shall  become  a  pool, 
and  the  thirsty  land  springs  of  water.  And  an  high-way 
shall  be  there,  and  a  way,  and  it  shall  be  called  The 
way  of  holiness;  the  unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it."  Isa. 
XXXV,  6-8. 

"I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods 
upon  the  dry  ground-.  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy 
seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thy  off-spring,  and  they  shall 
spring  up  as  among  the  grass,  as  willows  by  the  water 
courses.  One  shall  say  I  am  the  Lord's  and  another  shall 
call  himself  by  the  name  of  Jacob,  and  another  shall  sub- 
scribe with  his  own  hand  unto  the  Lord,  and  surname 
himself  by  the  name  of  Israel."     Isa.  xliv,3-5. 

" So  shall  he  sprinkle  many  nations."  Isa.  lii,  15.  "I 
will  take  you  from  among  the  heathen,  and  gather  you 
out  of  all  countries  and  bring  you  into  your  own  land. 
Then  will  I  spinkle  clean  water  upon  you  and  ye  shall  he 
clear  from  all  yourJiWiiness,  and  from  all  your  idols  will 
I  cleanse  you.  A  new  Iieart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a 
new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you,  and  I  will  take  away  the 
stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart 
of  flesh.  And  I  willput  my  spirit  within  ?/om,  and  cause 
you  to  vvalk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  myji^tlg- 
ments  and  do  them."     Ezek.  xxxvi,  24-27. 

"In  that  day  there  shall  be  r  fountain  opened  to  the 
house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  for 
sin  and  uncleanness.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
day  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  I  will  cut  off  the  name  of 
the  idols  out  of  the  land,  and  they  shall  be  no  more  re- 


THE    NEW    BIRTH.  189 

inembered.'"  Zachariah  xiii,  1,  2;  Revelations  vii,  13-17. 
The  above  were  figurative  representations  of  the  puri- 
fying effects  of  the  gospel  upon  every  true  believer, 
which  should  be  published  iif  consequence  of  the  atone- 
ment of  Jesus  Christ.  But  Nichodemus,  from  his  ignor- 
ance of  Moses  and  the  Prophets  on  this  subject,  thought 
that  Christ  meant  a  natural  birth.  In  this  he  was  mis- 
taken. Christ  told  him  that  "that  which  is  born  of  tha 
flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spir- 
it." *'  Art  thou,"  said  he,  "  a  teacher  in  Israel,  and  know- 
est  not  these  things?"  which  was  as  much  as  to  say, 
*-Had  you  understood  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  you  would 
understand  what  I  have  said  to  you  of  the  necessity  of 
l>einf^  born  asrain  —  of  bein";  born  of  water  and  of  tha 
Spirit." 

The  New  Covenant  or  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  was 
to  be  established  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  was  to  be  the  foun- 
.  dation  of  the  new  creation,  and  by  it  the  old  Jewisli  Cov- 
enant and  church  were  to  be  abolished.  Jer.  xxxi,  31- 
34:  Heb,  viii.  Nichodemus  ought  to  have  understood 
from  the  Jewish  scriptures,  that  Messiah  was  to  be  made 
an  offering  for  sin  —  that  he  vvas  to  die  and  rise  again, 
and  that  through  his  blood  by  the  divine  constitution  of 
the  gospel  covenant,  sins  were  to  be  remitted,  a  new- 
heart  was  to  be  given,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  was  to  be 
imparted  io  believers,  and  they  made  to  love  God  and  his 
laws.  Of  these  things  Moses  and  the  prophets  wrote  and 
testified.  Luke  xxiv,  25-27,  45-47.  "  To  him  gave  all 
the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name,  lohosoever  he- 
lieveth  in  him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins.  "  Acts  x,  43^ 
These  things  Christ  plainly  told  Nichodemus,  when  he  ex- 
plained to  him  what  he  meant  when  he  said  that,  except  a 
man  be  bora  again — born  of  water  and  the  spirit,  he  cannot 
fee,  or  enter  into,  or  enjoy,  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  he 
17 


199  THE    NEW    BIRTH. 

did  when  he  said  unto  him  in  the  same  conversation,  "As 
Moses  lifted- up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must 
the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
shall  not  perish  but  have  eternal  life.  For  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life."  John  iii,  14,  16.     This   was  Christ's  explanation  of 
what  he  said  about  being  born  again — -born  of  water  and  the 
spirit.     I  judge  that  this  is  what  Christ  meant  from  the 
fact  that  he  never  refused    instruction  to  any  sincere    in- 
quirer after  truth,  who  applied  to  him  for  it,  as  Nichode- 
mus  did,  and  tliis  is  the  solution  he  gave  to  him  of  the -sub- 
ject— he  said  not  a  word  about  baptism.     If  these  views 
be  correct,  then,  to  be  born  again — born  of  water  and  of 
the  spirit,  in  the  sense  Christ  used  the  expressions,  aro 
terms  of  the  same  meaning  with  a  true,  practical  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ,  which  produces  a  holy  life  and  true  obedience. 
This  secures  to  the  faithful  believer  all  thfe  blessings  and 
privileges,  present  and  future,  which  are  pj-ovided  by  God's 
mercy  and  grace  in  the  new  covenant,  and  which  will  be 
conferred  upon  and  enjoyed  by  him  in  the  different  periods 
and  stages  of  his  existence  through  time  and  in   eternity. 
That  true  faith  in  Christ  means  the  same  thing  with  being 
born  of  the  spirit,  I  think  the  gospel  abundantly  proves. 
"To  as  many  as  received  him  gave  he  power,  or  privilege, 
to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on 
his  name,  who  icere  horn  not  of  blood  nor  of  the  will  of  the 
flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but    of  God.''"'  John  i,   12, 
13.     "  These  things  are  written  that  ye  might  believe  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  believing  ye 
might  have  life  through  his  name.  "  John  xx,30,  31.     "Ye 
are  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in   Christ  Jesus — and  if 
ye    be  Christ's,  then  are  ye   Abraham's  seed  and  heirs 
according  to  the  promise.  "  Gal.  iii,  20,29.     "  Being  5orn 


THE    NEW    BIRTH.  191 

e.gain,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible  by  the 
word  of  God,  which  hy  ike  gospel  is  preached  unto  you.  " 
1  Pet.  i,  23,  25.  *'  Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  is  born  of  God.""  1  Jphn  v,  1.  "If  any  man  be 
in  Christ,  (united  to  him  by  faith)  he  is  a  new  creature; 
old  things  arc  passed  away,  behold  all  things  are  be- 
come new-  and  all  things  are  of  God,"  2  Cor.  v.  17. 
<*  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who,  according  to  his  abundant  mercy,  hath  begotten  us 
again  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  d^ad,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and 
undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven 
for  you  who  are  kept  by  'the  power  of  God  through  faith 
nnto  salvation. "  1  Pet.  i,  3-5.  ^'  In  Christ  Jesus  I  have 
begotten  you  through  the  gospel.  ''"■  1  Cor.  iv,  15.  "  Of 
his  own  iL'ill  begat  he  us  through  the  icord  of  truth,  that  we 
should  be  .a  kind  of  first  fruits  of  his  creatures."  James 
i,  18.  That  practical  faith  in  Jesus' Christ  and  the  new 
birth,  as  far  as  a  new  heart  is  concerned,  are  the  same 
things,  appears  from  Paul:  "  In  Christ  Jesus  neither  cir- 
<;umcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  imcircumcision,  but  faith 
that  worketh  by  love, "  or  "  a  new  creature. "  Gal.  v,  6 : 
ch.  vi,  15. 

What  are  there,  in  the  state  and  in  the  spiritual  blessings 
and  in  the  qualifications  of  the  true  believer  in  Jesus 
Christ,  which  answer  to  the  idea  of  his  beino-  born  a^rain — 

o  o 

of  his  being  born  of  the  water  and  of  the  spirit,  and  to  his 
being  a  new  creature,  and  which  distinguish  him  from  a 
Jew  under  the  old  covenant?  t  will  enumerate  a  few  of 
them.  The  true  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  is  enlightened 
by  the  spirit  through  the  gospel  of  God's  grace,  and  he  has 
repented  of  his  sins;  he  is  justified  from  all  things  from 
which  the  law  could  not  justify  him,  and  possesses  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  the  remission  of  his  sins  through  the 


192  THE   ^EW    BIRTH. 

blood  of  Christ  by  faith  in  him;  he  has  the  spirit  of  adoption, 
by  which  he  calls  God  his  father,  as  the  Gentiles  had  before 
they  were  baptised.  Acts  x.  The  lasv  of  the  spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  or  the  gospel,  has  made  him  free  from  the  law 
of  sin  and  death  through  the  atonement  of  Christ,  and  he  is 
accounted  and  treated  as  righteous  in  the  sight  of  God — this 
the  law  could  not  do.  Rom.  viii,  1-4.  Ilis  enmity  against 
God  and  his  law  is  removed,  and  he  is  peconciled  to  him 
through  the  death  of  his  Son.  He  holds  fellowship  with  the 
Father  and  the  Son — worships  them  in  spirit  and  in  truih, 
and  is  made  a  partaker  of  the  divine  nature  through  the 
precious  promises  of  the  gospel  J  he  is  an  heir  and  an  ex- 
pectant of  glory ;  and  his  treasure  is  in  heaven  His  life 
is  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  and  he  looks  for  the  Saviour,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  change  his  vile  body  that  it 
may  be  fashioned  like  u«to  his  glorious  body  according  to 
the  working  whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things  unta 
himself.  He  feels  and  realizes  the  fruits  of  the  spirit  in 
his  heart  and  manifests  them  in  his  life  of  love,  joy,  peace,, 
long  suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  fidelity,  meekness 
and  temperance — he  is  a  new  creature. 

These  are  some  of  the  things  which  belon^j  to,  and  are 
conferred  upon,  the  true  believer  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  are 
provided  for  and  secured  to  him,  by  the  grace  of  God,  in  the 
new  covenant,  or  covenant  of  the  spirit,  by  the  death  and 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  which  the  old  covenant 
could  not  give.  When  we  contrast  these  with  the  works 
of  the  flesh  or  the  deeds  of  the  law  and  the  carnal  mind> 
we  see  plainly  the  difference  between  the  true  believer 
of  the  gospel  and  he  that  believcth  not,  whether  he  be  a 
Jew  or  a  Gentile.  The  law  was  a  dispensation  oi^ihe  let- 
ter. But  the  gospel  is  a  dispensation  of  the  spirit^  and  is 
full  of  spiritual  blessings.  The  law  killed  every  sinner 
whether  he    was  truly  penitent  or  not,  by  its  dreadful 


THE    NEW    BIRTH. 


193 


curses.  But  the  atonement  of  Christ  in  the  gospel  by  the 
grace  of  God  has  procured  repentance  and  remission  of 
sin,  and  the  gospel  gives  life  to  till  true  penitent  believers? 
without  exception,  by  its  gracious  promises.  The  gospel 
is  therefore  a  covenant  of  life  and  they  that  believe  in 
Jesus  Clirist  have  everlasting  or  eternal  life.  John  v,  24: 
ch.  iii,  16,  18,  33:  ch.  vi,  40,  47:  ch.  viii,  51. 

God  in  the  original  or  first  generation  of  man,  or  in  hit 
primitive  creation,  made  him  in  his  own  image  and  like- 
ness :  man's  intellect,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  second  Es- 
say, was  in  accordance  with  the  mind  of  God  j  he  perceiv- 
ed as  God  perceived;  and  his  affections  were  in  harmony 
with  the  affections  of  God.  He  loved  as  God  loved,  and 
his  will  was  in  unision  with  God's  will.  Man's  body  was 
not  corruptible  and  mortal.  His  physical  frame  and  nature 
in  all  their  parts  and  powers,  as  the  habitation  of  his  pure 
spirit  "were  all  very  good." 

But  man  sinned  and  lost  the  image  and  likeness  of  God 
in  his  soul,  and  became  corporeally  corrupt  and  mortal.    In 
the  new  covenant,  God  has  made  provision  for  the  regen- 
eration of  man.      Regeneration  consists  in  making  man 
over  again,  and  comprehends  the  renewal  of  his  mind  into 
the  image  of  God  in  which  it  v/as  made,  and  in  the  renew- 
al of  his  body.     This  comprehends  a  spiritual  or  divinb 
moral  change  of  the  soul,  and  a  spiritual  or  divine  phys^ 
ical  change  of  the  body,  by  the  moral  and  physical  agen- 
cies of  God's  spirit.     These  are  provided  for,  and  are  and 
will  be  accomplished  by  Jesus  Christ  in  the  administration 
of  the  new  covenant,  or  the  covenant  of  the  spirit.     The 
soul  of  man  is  not  only  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the 
image  of  him  who  created  it  by  the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God   in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  the 
body  of  the  true  believer,  who  is  one  with  Christ,  will  be 
made  a   spiritual  body,  and  be  like  the  glorified  body  of 
17* 


194  THE    NEW      BIRTH. 

Jesus  Christ.  This  last  will  be  spiritual-physical  regen- 
eration, and  will  be  effected  by  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead:  the  former  is  spiritual-moral  regeneration,  and  is 
effected  in  this  life  by  the  gospel  of  God's  grace.  Is  not  " 
all  this  comprehended  in  the  scriptural  idea  of  being  born 
of  the  spirit  in  its  full  meaning?  Was  it  not  necessary 
that  Jesus  Christ  himself,  as  the  head  of  all  th^  saints  and 
the  Lord  of  the  covenant  of  the  Spirit,  2  Cor.  iii,  should  be 
begotten  by  the  resurrection  of  his  dead  body  from  the 
grave  by  the  Spirit,  before  he  could  establish  or  enter  into 
his  own  glorious  kingdom,  and  before  he  could  be  placed 
as  king  upon  the  holy  hill  of  Zion?  Psal.  ii:  Luke  xxiv, 
26,  46,  47:  John  vii,  39.  Flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  God,  neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incor- 
ruption.   1  Cor.  xv,  50, 

The  covenant  of  innocency  broken,  left  the  body  un- 
der the  power  of  death  forever;  but  the  new  covenant  pro- 
vides for  and  secures  to  it  a,  resurrection  from  the  dead  by 
Jesus  Christ,  who  died  and  rose  again ,  that  he  might  be 
Lord  of  the  dead  and  of  the  living. 

The  physical  power  of  the  Spirit  will  regenerate  the  nat- 
ural bodies  of  the  saints  by  their  resurrection  from  the 
dead  and  by  making  them  spiritual  bodies,  as  his  moral 
spiritual  power,  or  his  religion-giving  poiccr,  by  the  word^ 
of  his  grace,  regenerates  their,  souls.  The  body  will  fol-  1 
low  the  spirit  of  man  and  will  partake  of  its  nature  of 
purity  or  impurity.  Christ  did  not  C04iQe  into  the  world  to 
gave  men  from  natural  death;  he  was  himself  obliged  to 
die  and  to  rise  again,  as  I  have  just  said,  to  be  the  Lord  of 
the  dead  and  of  the  living.  Rom.xiv,9.  For  this  cause  came 
he  into  the  world.  Under  the  new  covenant,  it  is  appointed 
^nto  the  righteous  to  die  as  well  as  the  wicked — they  are 
also  liable  to  pains  and  afflictions  of  body  and  mind.  Christ 
did  not  undertake  to  prevent  these.     They  were  permitted  ^ 


THE     NEW    BIRTH.  125 

to  continue  under  the  new  covenant,  as  the  consequences 
of  sin,  and  to  show  its  dreadful,  ruinous  nature,  and  to 
weaken  its  power,  and  by  comparison  to  illustrate  the 
greatness  of  the  salvation  of  Jesus  Christ  revealed  in  the 
gospel.  These  afflictions  are  through  grace  sanctified  to  the 
humble  believer,  when  he  is  suitably  exercised  by  them.    « 

The  conversation  of  Christ  with  Nichodemus  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  speculatioli.     Whatever  else  may  be 
said  of  the  things  therein  taught,  all  pious  men  agree  that 
a  spiritual  change  of  heart  is  taught  and  is  insisted  on  by 
Jesus  Christ,  in  orden  to  the  enjoyment  of  God,  which  is 
experienced  by  every  true  christian,  however  they  may 
differ  in  their  philosophy  of  it,   as  fo  the  mode  of  the  di- 
vine agency  by  which  it  is  produced.     These  things  con- 
ceded, I  would  submit  the  following  questions  and  obser- 
vations lO  the  impartial  reader.     Was  the  expression  used 
by  Christ  to  Nichodemus,  '•  except  a  man  be  born  again 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God,"  limited  to  the  Jews 
alone,  on  account  of  their  having  been   once  religously 
born  under  the  old  covenant,  though  not  spiritually  born, 
as  we  have  seen  in  the  quotation  from  the  old  testament? 
To  be  born  again  implies  that  they  to  whom  the  word  ap- 
plies  had  been  once  born;  was  the  ^rsi  birth  meant  by 
Christ   the  natural  birth,  which  is  common  to  Jews  and 
Gentiles?  or  was  it  peculiar  to  the  Jews,  who  were  the 
natural   seed  of  Abraham,,  and  by  having  been  born  un- 
der the  old  carnal   covenant  or  constitution   of  religion, 
were  said  to  be  born  of  God,  and  were  ''Jews  by  nature, 
and  sinners  of  the  Gentiles."     Gal.  ii,  15.     The  Gentiles 
never  were  once  born  to  God  under  any  covenant  of  re- 
ligion, as  the  Jews  had  been,  and  we   do  not  find  in  the 
new  testament  (hat  the  expres5?ion  "born  again''''  is  ever 
applied  to  them.     Tiiose  who,  nni(  ng  them,  were  convert- 
ed to  God  were  said  to  be  the  children  of  God,  and  were 


196  THE    NEW    BIRTH. 

begotten  of  God,  and  were  horn  of  God,  but  they  are  not 
said  to  have  been  born  again,  as  was  said  of  the  Jews. 
If  this  be  true,  does  it  not  appear  that  the  birth  alluded  to. 
which  is  the  object  of  comparison  with  the  second  birth, 
was  the  religious  carnal  birth,  which  was  limited  to  the 
Jews  on  account  of  their  natural  connection  with  Abra- 
ham and  the  old  covenant  under  which  they  were  born 
by  nature.  Under  that  covenant  they  had  been  "born 
of  the  flesh  only,  and  were  flesh."  Christ  came  to  estab- 
lish the  covenant  of  the  spirit  and  to  erect  a  spiritual  king- 
<lom  upon  it,  which  is  called  the  kingdom. of  God,  and  it 
was  necessary  that  the  Jewish  people,  including  Nichode- 
mus,  a  ruler  and  teacher  in  Israel,  should  be  born  again 
to  discern  or  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  how  v/ere 
they  to  bo  born  again?  by  receiving  ot  believing' on  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  such  as  did  so'were  horn,  not 
rif  blood  or  the  will  of  the  flesh  or  of  the  will  of  man,  but 
of  God  —  they  are  born  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  as 
all  of  Abraham's  natural  offsprings  were,  but  of  incor- 
ruptible seed,  by  the  v/ord  of  God,  which  by  the  gospel  is 
preached.  John  i,  12,  13:  1  Pet.  i,  23-25.  The  Gen- 
tiles having  been  aliens  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Is- 
rael, and  strangers  from  the  covenants  of  promise,  whichr 
.ippertained  to  the  natural  descendants  of  Abraham,  though 
!  orn  of  the  flesh  as  the  Jews  had  been,  were  not  born 
to  God  as  they  were. . 

Christ  said  to  Nichodemus  as  a  repetition  of  the  declar- 
ation, "  except  a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God;"  and  to  impress  it  more  deeply  upon 
his  mind,  who  seemed  not  to  have  understood  his  meaning, 
"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  except  a  man  be  born  ol 
water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and 
that   which   is   born  of  the  Spirit  is  Spirit.     Marvel  not 


THE    NEW    BIRTH<  197 

that  I  said  unto  thee,  ye  musf  be  born  again.  The'wind, 
or  the  Spirit,  bloweth,  or  spcahcth,  where  he  listeth  or 
willeth,  and  ihou  hearest  the  sound  or  voice  thereof,  but 
canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth. 
So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  John  iii,  5-8. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  water  here?  Is  it  to  be  taken  lit- 
eralhj,  as  meaning  ihojluid  substance  called  water?  or  is  it 
to  be  tnkenjigurativelt/,  as  it  is  used  in  the  Old  Testament,  ~ 
to  signify  the  purifying  effects  of  the  word  of  the  gospel 
of  the  Spirit,  by  the  faith  of  which  "  God  purifies  the 
heart,"  or  remits  sin  and  sanctifies  the  soul?  What  the 
Spirit  does  by  his  w^ord,  he  does  himself.  The  word  of 
the  Spirit  is  the  instrument  of  the  spiritual  new  birth. 
The  word  of  the  covenant  of  the  Spirit  is  the  word  of 
the  gospel;  it  is  the  testimony  that  God  has  given  of  his 
Son.  They  that  believe  it  are  born  of  God:  by  this 
word  believed  they  have  spiritual  discernment  and  rc» 
ceive  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  or  the  things  which  he  ha§ 
revealed  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  kingdom  of 
God.  1  Cor.  ii,  11-14.  They,  by  receiving  Christ,  re- 
ceive remission  of  sin  through  his  blood;  no  person  can 
be  born  of  God  in  his  sins.  He  that  believes  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  is  born  of  God,  and  lie  that  believes,  has 
remission  of  his  sins,  or  is  justified  from  all  things. 
The  word  of  the  gospel  was  well  described  by  the  Old 
Testament  writers,  under  the  figure  of  water,  on  account 
of  its  cleansing  and  purifying  influences,  in  the  justifica- 
tion of  those  who  believe. 

The  spiritual  moral  birth,  is  effected  in  the  heart  by  the 
gospel  believed  — by  the  lav/  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  spiritual  physical  birth  which  is  also  provid- 
ed for  in  the  nevv^  covenant,  will  be  effected  upon  the  body, 
by  the  exertion  of  the  physical  power  of  the  Spirit  in 


198  THE    NEW    ElkTtl. 

raising  the  bodies  of  the  saints  from  the  dead  spiritual 
bodies,  like  the  glorious  body  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Jewish  idea  of  a  religious  birth  is  expressed  by 
Maimonides,  a  E.abbinical  writer,  which  may  enable  us 
to  undei-^tand  the  terms  in  some  degree,  which  are  at  the 
head  of  this  Essay,  as  the  Jews  would  understand  them. 
He  observes,  '*  A  Gentile  who  becomes  a  proselyte  to  the 
Jewish  religion,  and  a  slave  who^s  set  free,  are  both  as  it 
were  neiv  horn  bahcs,  which  is  the  reason  why  those,  who 
before  were  under  the  authority  of  their  parents,  are  no 
longer  so  in  the  eye  of  our  taw." 

Would  not  a  Jew,  soundly  converted  from  the  Jewish 
religion  to  Christianity,  as  Pau-1  was  under  tho  new  cove- 
nant' by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  consider  himself  to  have 
been  born  again,  ^in  comparison  to  his  religious  natural 
birth,  or  his  birth  according  to  tlie  will  of  thcJIesJi,  under 
the  old  carnal  Jewish  covenant?  and  would  he  not  consid- 
er himself  a  new  creature  as  Paul  did? 

Some  think  that  water  in  John.iii,  5,  means  baptismal 
wafer,  and  that  to  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  is  to 
be  baptized  in  water.  I  will  not  pronounce  positively 
whether  it  docs  or  doe«  not  mean,  or  comprehend  baptism. 
If  it  docs,  it  is  only  an  emblematical  birth  as  far  as  bap- 
tism is  concerned,  and  expresses  the  spiritual  moral  change 
that  had  previously  passed  in  the  soul,  by  the  faith  of  the 
gospel.  Tcrtullian,  in  the  second  century,  who  was  the 
first  of  the  fathers  to  write  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  main- 
tained the  opinion  that  Christ  meant  baptism  in  the  pas- 
sage, and  that  no  person  oould  be  saved  without  it.  This 
opinion  and  the- various  constructions  given  to  the  text, 
have  been  the  cause  of  more  error,  corruption  and  perse- 
cution, since  the  second  century,  than  any  other  one  thing 
in  the  christian  religion. 

Calvin,  Gill  and  others,  have  denied  that  water  in  John 


THE    NEW    BlilTH.  199 

iii,  5,  means  baptismal  water  at  all.  Calvin  says,  "They 
are  deceived  who  suppose  that  this  passage  refers  to  bap- 
tism, because  it  mentions  wafer.  For  after  Christ  had 
declared  to  Nichodemas  the  corruption  of  nature,  and 
shewn  him  the  necessity  of  being  born  again,  because 
Nichodemus  was  dreaming  of  a  second  corporeal  birth,  he 
here  indicates  the  manner  in  which  God  regenerates  us, 
namely,  by  water  and  by  the  Spirit,  as  if  he  had  said  by 
the  Spirit,  who,  in  the  ablution  and  purification  of  the  souls 
of  the  faithtlil,  performs  the  office  of  water.  So  to  he 
horn  of  wafer  and  of  the  Spirit,  is  no  other  than  to  re- 
ceive that  influence  of  the  Spirit,  which  does  in  the  soul 
what  water  Joes  on  the  body."  God  remits  sin  by  faith 
in  the  word  of  the  gospel,  and  not  by  the  operation  of  the 
Spirit — "he  purified.their  hearts  by  faith."  Acts  xv,  9. 
I  repeat  that  it  is  a  great  error  in  theology  to  confound 
justification  with  sanctifieation.  All  protestant  confes- 
sions of  faith  are  very  particular  in  distinguishing  be- 
tween them.  1  he  justification  of  a  sinner  is  of  necessi- 
ty prior  to  his  sanctifieation.  The  first  is  effected  at  once 
through  faith,  the  other  is  progressive  through  life:  —  it  is 
a  great  error  to  say  that  a  sinner  is  justified  by  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Spirit,  except  it  may  bethought  to  be  concern- 
ed in  producing  faith. 

Dr.  Gill  says,  that  "by  water  in  John  iii,  5,  is  not 
meant  material  water,  or  baptismal  water;  for  water  bap- 
tism is  never  expressed  by  water  only,  without  some  addi- 
tional word,  which  shows  that  the  ordinance  of  water  bap- 
tism is  intended;  nor  has  baptism  any  regenerating  in- 
fluence in  it;  a  person  may  be  baptized,  as  Simon  Magus 
was,  and  yet  not  be  born  again." 

In  accordance  wi.h  the  quotations  formerly  made  from 
the  Old  Testament,  of  the  figurative  use  of  water,  in  de- 
■cribing  the  spiritual  blessings  to  be  enjoyed  under  the 


200  THE    NEW    BIRTH. 

gospel,  we  find  that  Christ  employs  water  to  represent 
the  remission  of  sin,  and  the  sanctification  of  the  soul,  by 
the  word  of  the  gospel  of  the  Spirit,  and  all  spiritual  bless- 
ings, in  his  teachings:  "He  that  hclieveth  on  me  as  the 
scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of 
living  water:  but  this  spake  he  of  the  Spirit,  which  they 
that  believe  on  him  should  receive;  for  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  not  yet  given  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glori- 
fied." John  vii,  38,  39.  "  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of 
God,  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee  give  me  to  drink,  thou 
wouldst  have  asked  of  him  and  he  would  have  given  thee 
living  water.  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him,  shall  never  thirst:  but  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him,  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  spinging 
up  into  everlasting  life."  ,  John  iv,  10-14.  "I  will  give 
unto  him  that  is  athirst  of  the  fountain  of  the  water  of 
life  freely;  — And  he  shewed  me  a  pure  river  of  water  of 

life. Let  him  that  is  athirst  come,  and  whosoever  will 

let  him  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely."  Rev.  xxi,  G: 
xxii,  1,  17.  Compare  these  New  Testament  expressions 
with  the  Old  Testament  quotations  formerly  made,  as 
figurative  representations  of  the  spiritual  blessings  of  the 
new  covenant,  and  which  are  communicated  to  every  true 
believer  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  it  appears  to  me  that  the  ex- 
pression of  Christ  in  John  iii,  5,  will  be  intelligible  with- 
out necessarily  including  the  ordinance  of  baptism. 

Water  baptism  in  the  New  Testament,  is  not,  as  far  as 
I  can  see,  ever  called  a  birth.  The  Jewish  fathers,  in  the 
Old  Testament,  were  said  to  have  been  baptized  into  Mo> 
ees  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,  but  they  are  not  said  to 
have  been  born  by  their  baptism.  1  Cor.  x,  2.  *f  W» 
arc  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  for 
as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ,  havo 
put  on  Christ.     There  is  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  &c. 


THE    NEW    BIRTH.  201 

Gal.  iii,  26.  By  their  baptism  the  Galatians  were  not 
said  to  be.  born  of  water,  but  only  to  have  put  on  Christ, 
through  the  operation  of  that  faith,  by  which  God  purified 
their  hearts,  and  made  tkem  niis  children,  agreeably  to  the 
new  covenant  and  the  promise  made  to  Abraham.  Gen. 
XV,  5,  6.  Both  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  made  the  chil- 
dren of  Abraham  by  faith  in  Jesu?  Christ,  as  Abraham 
was  made,  or  constituted,  their  spiritual  father  by  God, 
through  faith  in  God's  promise  to  bless  the  nations  of  the 
earthj  through  his  seed,  Christ.  Gal.  iii,  7-9,  16;  Gen.  xii, 
3,7:  ch.  XV,  5,  6:  ch.  xvii,  7.  By  baptism  they  all  re- 
nounced their  Jewish  and  Gentile  peculiarities,  and  as- 
sumed Christ  and  his  gospel,  as  the  only  Saviour  and 
system  of  laws.  The  Gentiles  received  the  promise  of 
the  Spirit  through  faith,  and  after  they  believed  they  were 
sealed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  before  they  were 
baptized  with  water.  Acts  x,  43-47:  ch.  xi,  15,18: 
Acts  XV,  7-9:  Eph.  i,  13. 

From  the  previous  quotations,  it  does  not  appear  that  in 
the  New  Testament  baptism  is  always  meant  when  water 
is  mentioned,  but  only  when  it  is  so  expressed.     I  do  not 
intend   to   disparage  baptism  in    any  degree,    but  I  do 
believe  that  wrong  views    of  it  have  been  the  occasion 
o^  more  practical   error  and  corruption,  in  the  christian 
religion,   than  any  other    one   thing  in    it.      Instead  of 
its   bringing   all  true  believers   into   one    fellowship   in 
Christ,   in   peace   and  love,  as  expectants  of  a  glorious 
resurrection  and  a  blessed  immortality,  by  his  grace  and 
power,  as  it  was  designed,  it  has  been  desecrated  and 
made  the  occasion  of  great  corruptions,  divisions  and  per- 
secutions. 

Nicodemus  was    censured    by  Christ  for  not  under* 
standing  what  he  said,  when  he  declared  to  him  that  a 
man  must  be  born  again,  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
18 


202  THE    NEW    EIRTH. 

before  he  can  see,  or  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.    He 
was  censured,  as  a  teacher  in  Israel,  for  not  knowing 
these  things,  of  which  he  had  been  speaking,  that  is,  for 
not  understanding  what  Moses  and  the  Prophets  had  said 
concerning   Messiah  and  his  kingdom,  of  which  Christ 
had  told  him:  "Art  thou  a  teacher  in  Israel  and  knowest 
not  these  things  ? "     But  Nicodemus  could  not   find  bap- 
tism,  which  is  a  gospel  ordinance   instituted   by  Jesus 
Christ  himself,  in  the  Old  Testament.     At  the  time  of 
the  conversation  with  Nicodemus,  he  had  not  instituted 
it.     Christ  could  not  have  meant  the  baptism  of  John  the 
Baptist.     His  baptism  did  not  introduce  any  body  into  the 
kingdom.     The  kingdom  was  not  set  up  —  the  atonement 
was  not  made,  nor  was  the  nevy  covenant  establishetl,  rior 
.  the  King  crowned,  until  after  Christ  died.     Christ  did  not 
mean  proselyte  baptism  among  the  Jews,  for  there  was 
none  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  after,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  christian  religion  practised  among  them  in 
introducing  proselyted  Gentiles  into  their  fellowship ;  and 
this  was  probably  borrowed  from  the  christian  institution. 
This  is  made  clear  by  Drs.  Owen,  Gill  and  others.     If 
we  consider  water  in  the  Old  Testament,  used  figurative- 
ly, to  represent  the  purifying  influences  of  the  gospel  in 
the  New,  in  the  remission  of  sins,  or  the  justification  of 
sinners  by  faith  and  the  purification  of  the  heart,  and  the 
destruction   of  idolatry  in   the  world,    the  obscurity    or 
difficulty  of  John  iii,  5,  is,  I  think,  obviated.    1  repeat  that 
Christ  explained  to  Nicodemus  his  meaning,  as  far  as  it 
had  a  personal  and  individual  application,  when  he  told 
him  after  reproving  him  for  his  ignorance,  that,"  As  Mo- 
Ses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,   so  must  the 
son  of  man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  belie veth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.     For  God  so 
loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 


THE    NEW    BIRTH.  *  -  203 

irkosoever  believeth  in  hira  should  not  perish,  but  have 
eternal  life."  John  iii,  14fe-16.  Surely  those  who  pos- 
sess everlasting  life,  must  be  born  again;  "Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  you,  he  thatheareth  my  word  and  believeth  on 
him  that  sd^nt  me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not 
come  into  condemnation;  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
lite." "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  be- 
lieveth in  me,  hath -everlasting  life." "Whosoever 

believeth  that  Jesus  is  theChrist,  is  born  of  God."  John 
v^24:  eh.  vi,  47:   1  John  v,  1. 


ESSAY    XIL 


THE     RELIGION-GIVING     OPERATION, 


God,  in  giving  religion,  creates  no  new  faculties  or  powers  in  the  mind  — 
His  religion-giving  operation  is  by  his  word  intelligibly  present- 
ed to  the  mind,  perceived,  understood  and  believed. 

Payne,  in  his  book  entitled  "  Elements  of  Mental  and 
Moral  Science,"  which  has  been  very  highly  recom- 
mended by  a  number  of  the  most  distinguished  orthodox 
theological  professors  and  teachers  in  these  United  States, 
observes,  that  "The  mind  is  a  simple,  indivisible  essence. 
It  does  not,  like  the  body,  consist  of  parts.  The  powers 
of  perceiving,  and  feeling,  and  judging,  are  not  to  be  con- 
sidered as  separate  portions,  or  members,  so  to  speak,  of 
mind,  but  as  capabilities  imparted  by  its  Creator,  of  ex- 
isting in  various  states  of  thought,  and  feeling,  which  con- 
stitute the  whole  phenomena  of  mind.  These  phenome- 
na are  the  mind  itself  in  different  states.  A  thought 
existing  in  the  mind,  is  the  mind  thinking;  an  idea  is  the 
mind  conceiving.  Our  notions,  thoughts  and  ideas,  are 
nothing  more  than  the  mind  itself  indifferent  states.  The 
same  is  true  with  our  endlessly  diversified  sensations. 
They  are  not  distinct  and  separate  from  the  mind.  There 
is  not  the  mind  and  its  sensations,  as  we  say  there  is  the 
body  and  its  limbs,  tor  the  sensation  is  the  mind  affected 
in  a  particular  state. 

"The  mind  is  an  unknown  substance  of  which  tho 
qualities  only  can  be  ascertained.     The  faculties  of  the 


THE   RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION.  205 

mmd,  or  its  powers  and  susceptibilities,  are  not  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  mind  itself.  The  powers  and  suscep- 
tibilities of  the  mind  denote  the  constitution  it  has  re- 
ceived from  its  Creator,  by  ^vllich  it  is  capable  of  existing 
in  all  the  different  states  which  form  the  consciousness  pf 
life. 

'-'Our  feelings  ' depend  upon  the  nature  of  mind,  and 
the  nature  of  the  objects  lij  which  the  mind  is  affected. 
It  is  the  object  that  affects  the  mind  when  sentient;  but 
it  is  the  original  susceptibility  of  the  mind  itself,  which 
determines  and  modifies  the  particular  affection. 

'•  T-hough  the  fall  of  man  effected  no  change  in  the 
original  susceptibilities  of  the  mind,  though  it  created 
none,  and  extinguished  none,  it  perverted  all." 

Religious  states  '  of  mind,  if  produced-  by  the  percep- 
tion and  belief  of  the  truth,  are  produced  by  the  mani- 
festations God  makes  of  himself.  Different  manifesta- 
tions of  his  character  perceived,  produce  different  feel- 
ings. Hence  tJie  religious  feelings  under  the  different 
dispensations  were  diff^erent,  as  the  character  of  God  was 
differently  manifested.  The  perfection  of  religious  feel- 
ing is  realized  under  the  display  of  the  perfections  of 
God  in  the  gospel,  in  the  states  of  mind  of  the  enlighten- 
ed, humble  christian. 

I  defined  religion  to  be  a  system  of  truth,  of  which 
God  is  the  great  subject;  or,  a  system  of  affections  and 
conduct,  of  which  God  is  the  supreme  object.  This  sys- 
tem was  revealed  by  God  himself.  And,  since  immedi- 
ate, supernatural  revelations  ceased,  by  which  it  was  origi- 
nally made  known,  mankind  have  been  limited  by  the 
constitution  of  their  minds,  and  the  relations  they  bear  to 
spiritual  things,  to  the.  record  and  the  oral  traditions  of 
these  revelations,  for  religious  or  spiritual  knowledge. 

God  has  never  employed  miraculous  power  to  produce 
18* 


20.6  THE   RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION j 

effects,  that  could  be  produced  by  the  operation  of  second 
causes.  The  word  of  God,  in  its  original  revelation,  was 
miraculous  and  supernatural,  and  imparted  spiritual  and 
divine  states  of  mind,  consisting  in  spiritual  ideas,  thoughts 
and  feelings,  which  could  not  be  produced  without  it.  This 
word  is  now  established  by  God,  in  the  order  of  second 
causes  in  the  spiritual  economy,  for  the  production  of  re- 
ligious or  spiritual  effects  in  the  human  mind.  It  retains 
the  nature  and  qualities  of  its  original,  supernatural,  di- 
vine character,  and  affects  the  mind,  when  sentient  or  per- 
cipient with  a  sense  of  divine  things,  corresponding  with 
its  sense  and  meaning  when  truly  apprehended :  — -it  is  the. 
instrument  of  ideas  and  thought,  of  knowledge  and  feeling. 
The  miraculous  and  supernatural  origin  of  religion  in  the 
world,  by  the  revelatibns  of  God,  are  proven  by  the  fact  that 
there  is  no  nation  upon  the  earth  that  has  any  notion  of 
religion,  which  does  not  refer  it  to  a  supernatural  origin, 
and  to  some  remote  period  when  its  god  or  gods  reveal- 
ed it  to  mankind.  All  nations,  besides  the  Jews,  Chris- 
tians and  Mahometans,  have  been  unable  to  give  any 
other  account  of  their  religion,  further  than  that  they  re- 
ceived it  from  tradition,  and  they  give  some  fabulous  mi- 
raculous account  of  its  origin. 

The  existence  and  character  of  God,  can  only  be  known 
by  his  personal  manifestations,  or  by  -his  historical  ac- 
tions and  doings.  These  must  be  miraculous  and  super- 
natural to  bring  them  within  the  reach  of  tlie  perceptions 
of  the  mindj  and  to  associate  the  invisible  God  with  the 
sensible  universe  in  the  view  of  the  mind.  These  arc 
effected  by  the  manifestations  of  Jehovah  in  the  old  and 
new  testaments. 

Two  things,  then,  are  necessary  to  the  existence  of  re- 
ligion, as  I  have  above  defined  it,  in  the  human  mind. 
The  first  is  a  capacity  for  it.     This  is  an  original  or  na- 


THE    RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION.  207 

live  power,  and  which,  as  Payne  remarks,  was  not  extin- 
guished by  the  fall,  and  consisits  in  the  intelligent  nature 
of  the  mind.  The  second  is  a  revelation  of  divine  truth, 
as  mankind  have  it  not  naturally.  The  revelation  must 
be  made  in  intelligible  words  and  sentences.  Since  the 
immediate  miraculous  revelations  ceased,  all  that  can  be 
alleged  of  the  immediate  operations  of  God's  Spirit,  in 
the  production  of  religion  in  man,  relates  to  the  powers 
and  susceptibilities  of  his  mind,  which  render  him  capa- 
ble of  religion;  th'ese  are  greater  at  some  times  than  at 
others,  but  no  measure  or  degree  of  these  can  enable  the 
mind  to  acquire  religious  or  spiritual  knowledge,  without 
revelation,  more  than  a  wellorganizcd  eye  can  enable  a 
man  to  see  without  light. 

Every  person  whose  organization  is  natural  and 
healthy,- and  v/hose  mind  is  not  deranged,  has,  in  the  con- 
stitution of  his  moral  nature  which  God  has  given  him, 
and  which  he  sustains,  a  capacity  for  religion,  under  the 
light  and  influence  of  revelation.  The  history  of  the 
world,  from  the  creation  of  man  to  the  present  period,  and 
the  entire  ground  exhibited  in  the  scriptures,  of  man's  re- 
sponsibility to  God  under  the  covenant  of  innocence  in 
Eden,  and  under  the  Patriarchal  and  Mosaical  dispensa- 
tions, and  under  the  gospel,  and  the  whole  process  of 
man's  probation  and  of  the  future  judgment,  are  based 
upon,  and  prove  the  existence  and  influence  of,  this  capa- 
city. And  all  show  that  the  actual  improvement  of  it 
into  religion,  or  into  spiritual  knowledge  and  affection, 
is  limited,  by  divine  appointment,  to  the  use  and  influence 
of  the  revealed  word  of  God,  which  makes  known  his  ex- 
istence and  moral  chapacter.  I  will  illustrate  and  prove 
these  things  by  a  direct  appeal  to  some  scripture  exam- 
ples and  authority,  in  the  old  and  in  the  new  testament, 
which  indicate  the  nature  and  character  of  the  whole. 


208  THE   RELIGION-GIVING    OPEKATION. 

These  references  are  made  us  examples  of  the  whole,  and 
to  engage  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  examine  the  sub- 
ject, by  carefully  reading  the  scriptures  for  himself.  I 
beo^in  vvith  the  first  communication  that  was  made  by  God 
to  our  first  parents  after  the  fall:  These  vrill  exhibit  the 
moral  character  and  governmental  authority  of  God,  as 
well  as  his  manner  of.manifesting  his  will  anci  of  making 
himself  known  "to  mankind.  They  will  also  show  that 
the  religion-givivg  operation  of  God  is  hy  his  word. 
"And  they  (Adam  and  Eve)  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord 
God  walking  in  the  garden.  And  Adam  and  his  wife  hid 
themselves  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God. 

^'  And  the  Lord  God  called  unto  Adam  and  said  unto 
him,  Where  art  thou?  And  he  said  I  heard'thy  voice  and 
was  afraid.  Gen.  iii,  8-&c.  Read  this  chapter  to  the  end 
and  obsarvG  the  speeeh  used  by  God,  which  Adam  and 
Eve  understood,  and  the  religious  instruction  he  gave  to 
them,  and  the  understanding  and  moral  feeling  they  evinc- 
ed under  what  he  said  to  them. 

God  addressed  Cajnin  the.  same  way  in  words  after  he 
killed  Abel,  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Cain,  Where  is 
thy  brother?  What  hast  thou  done?  The  voice  of  thy  bro- 
ther's blood  .crieth  unto  me- from  the  ground.  And  now- 
art  thou  cursed  from  the  earth,  which  hath  opened  her 
mouth  to  receive  thy  brother's  blood  from  thy  hands.  Gen. 
iv,  9  11.  Read' this  chapter  also  for  the  same  purpose, 
and  particularly  to  see  evinced  the  moral  and  religious 
feeling  manifested  by  Cain,  under  the  weight  of  guilt,  un- 
der the  display  of  God's  personal  authority  and  justice. 

"  And  God  said  unto  Noah,  The  end  of  allfesh  is  come 
lefare  me;  for  the  earth  is  filled  with  violence  through 
them:  and  behold  I  will  destroy  them  with  the  earth. 
Make  thee  an  ark  of  gopher- wood:  rooms  shalt  thou  make 
in  the  ark,  &c.     And  behold  I,  even  I,  do  bring  a  food  of 


THE    RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION.  209 

waters  upon  the  earth.  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto -Noah, 
come  thou  and  all  thy  house  int©  the  ark,  for  thee  have  I 
seen  righteous  before  me  in  this  generation.  "  Gen.  vi,  13, 
14,  17:  ch.  vii,  1.  Paul  says  that  ^^  bi/  faith- •'Soah, 
being  warned  of  God  of  things  not  seen  as  yet,  moved  with 
fear,  prepared  an  arliy  Heb.  xi,7.  Notice  in  this,  the 
personal-moYdi\,  purity  and  righteousness  of  God,  and  the 
display  of  his  physical  power. 

The  following  quotations  show,  that  the  religion-giving 
operations  of  the  Spirit  of  God  were  by  words,  "  And  the 
Lord  came  down  in  a  cloud  and  spake  unto  Moses,  and  he 
took  of  the  Spirit  that  was  upon  hini,  and  gave  it  unto  the 
Seventy  Elders.  '•  And  when  the  Spirit  rested  upon  them 
they  prophesied,  and  did  not  cease.  "  Numbers,  chap,  xi, 
vers.  25,  2G,  29.  And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
Balaam,  and  he  took  up  a  parable  and  said,  How  good- 
ly are  thy  tents,  O  Jacob,  and  ihy  tabernacles,  O  Israel! 
Numb,  xxiv,  2,  8.  •'  And  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon 
Saul  and  he  prophesied  among  the  prophets.  "  1  Saml.  x, 
19,  20.  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  spake  by  me,  and  his 
word  icas  in  my  tongue.  The  God  of  Israel  srmZ,  the  rock 
of  Israel  spake  to  me,  He  that  ruleih  over  men  must  be 
just,  ruling  in  the  fear  of  God."  2  Sam.  xxiii,  2,  3.  "Thou 
testifest  against  them  by  thy  Spirit  in  the  prophets.  "  Neh. 
ix,  30.  "  The  Lord  God  and  his  Spirit  hath  sent  me.  " 
Isa.  xlvi,  16.  "  The  Spirit  entered  into  me  whenhe  spake 
unto  me.  Ezek.  ii,  2.  The  Spirit  took  me  up  and  I  heard 
a  voice  saying,  Blessed  be  the  glory  of  the  Lord.  Ez6k. 
iii,  12,  24.  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  fell  upon  me,  and 
said  unto  me,  Speak :  Thus  saith  the  Lord :  "Thus  have  yc 
said,  O  house  of  Israel:  for  I  know  the  things  that  come 
^  into  your  mind,  every  one  of  them.  "  Ezek.  xi,  5.  "  1 
'_^^\\\  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh,  and  your  sons  and 
your  daughters  shall  prophesy .'"'  Joel  ii,  28.     "  I  am  full 


210  THE    RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION. 

of  power  by  the  Spirit  of  tlie  Lord,  and  of  judgrnejit  and 
of  might,  to  dccla7'e  unto  Jacob  his  sins. "  Mic.  iii.  8. 
'^  The  words  which  the  Lord,  of  hosts  hath  sent  in  Ms  spir- 
it hy  tlve  former  prophets.  "  Zech.  vii,  12. 

The  personal  chaiTtcter  and  office  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
incarnate  Word,  who.  is  the  author  and  finisher  of  our 
fliith,  are  described  by  Moses  .and  the  prophets  as  a  speak- 
er and  preacher :  "  And  the  Lord  said  I  will  raise  them  up 
a  prophet  from  among  their  brethren* — and  I  will  put  mj/ 
words  into  his  mouth  and  he  shall  speah  unto  them  all  that 
I  shall  command  him— and  whosoever  shall  not  hearken 
unto  my  words  which  he  shall  speak  in  my  nmne,  I  will  re- 
quire it  of  him.''''  Deut.  xviii,  15-lS.  Comp.  \vilh  Acts  iii, 
22,23.  "The  Spiritof  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me,  be- 
cause the  Lord' hath  anointed"  me  to  preach  good  tidings 
unto  the  meek — to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the 
Lord."  Isa.  Ixi,  1.     Comp.  with  Luke  iv,  18-20. 

Sin  and  rebellion  always  consisted  either  in  the  unhe- 
lief,  corruption  or  rejection  and  transgression  of  God'^s 
word,  after,  it  had  been  spoken  and  puhUshed  to  the  people, 
by  his  authority  properly  attested, — and  the  law  of  God 
was  always  published  by  icords  and  sentences. 

Of  the  physical  operations  of  the  spirit  which  do  not 
give  religion,  and  which  are  common  to  all  mankind,  and 
which  sustain  their  natural  and  moral  existence  and  pow- 
ers, which  render  them  capable  of  religion  under  the  light 
and  influence  of  the  revelation  of  the  Spirit,  the  ^riptures 
speak  in  the  following  manner:  "  By  his  Spirit  he  hath 
garnished  the  heavens;  hjs  hand  hath  formed  the  crooked 
serpent.  The  Spiritof  God.hath  made  me,.and  the  breath 
of  the  Almighty  hath  given  me  life."  Job  xxxvi,  13:  ch. 
xxxiiii4.  "  If  he  set  his  heart  upon  me,  if  lie  gather  un- 
to himself  his  Spirit  and  his  breath,  all  flesh  shall  perish 
together,  and  man  shall  turn  again  to  dust."  Job  xxxiv, 


THE   RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION.  211 

14,  15.  The  immediate  physical  operations  of  the  Spirit 
sustain  our  natural  lives,  and  all  our  spiritual,  intellectual 
and  moral  powers  and  susceptibilities,  which  render  us  ca- 
pable of  religion ;  but  religion  itself  is  imparted  by  the  icord 
of  God,  which  enlightens  and  impresses  these  spiritual  pow->. 
ers  and  susceptibilities.  ''  Thou  sendest  forth  thy  Spirit, 
they  are  created,  thou  renewest  the  face  of  the  earth." 
Psal.  civ,  30.  "  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit?  or 
whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence?  If  I  ascend  up 
into  heaven  thou  art  there:  if  I  make  my  ted  in  hell,  be- 
hold thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning 
and  dwell  in  the  uttern^ost  part  of  the  sea;  even  there 
shall  thy  hand  lead  me  and  thy. right  hand  shall  hold  me." 
Psal.  cxxxix,  7-10.  "God  giveth  to  all  life  and  breath 
and  all  things,  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations 
of  men — for  in  him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. "' 
Acts  xvii,  24-26,  28. 

The  powers  of  the  mind,  which  render  man  capable  of 
religion,  and  which  were  "  perverted  by  sin, "  are,  when 
sentient,  acted  upon  by  the  word  of  God's  grace  and  truth 
in  the  gospel  through  the  ears  or  eyes,  which  it  perceives; 
and  in  turn  the  mind  attends  to  and  acts  upon  the  word,  and 
iirvestigates  its  sense  and  meaning,  which  are  not  manifold 
but  one.  By  these  means  the  mind  perceives  or  discerns 
spiritual  things  through  and  by  the  word,  believes  in  and 
receives  them. 

By  these  means  the  natural  mind  is  made  spiritual — it 
discerns' spiritual  things  through  the  words  of  the  Spirit, 
and  receives  them.  But  the  natural  man  receives  them 
not,  because  he  does  not  discern  them;  he  judges  of 
things  by  his  senses,  and  passions,  and  reason  exercised 
upon  natural  appearances  and  upon  natural  tilings  alone. 
Every  thing  that  is  supernatural,  or  that  does  not  fall  with- 
in the  bounding  circle  of  nature  and   natural  phenomena, 


212  THE    RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION. 

he  rejects  as  foolishness.  Every  thing  of  divine  revela- 
tion is  of  that  character  in  his  view,  because  every  thing 
is  supernatural,  and  therefore,  as  long  as  he  is  limited  by 
nature  in  his  perceptions  and  investigations,  he  never  can 
discern  or  receive  spiritual  things — he  will  continue  a  na- 
tural or  an  animal  man.  Tne  power  of  God  which  sus- 
tains the  mind  in  its  intellectual  arid  moral  faculties  and 
susceptibilities  when  attending  to  and  investigating  the 
word,  is  altogether  different  from  the  operations  of  the 
Spirit  by  which  the  word  was  made  known  or  revealed, 
which  is  the  subject  of  its  investigation,  and  which  en- 
lightens it.  That  word,  when  understood  and  truly  be- 
lieved, rectifies  "  the  perverted  susceptibilities."  Sin  that 
perverted  them  is  pardoned  through  fjiith  in  the  blood  of 
the  atonement,  and  the  soul  is  restored  to  the  knowledge 
and  love  and  fellowship  of  God,  by  his  mercy  and  grace  re- 
ceived by  the  faith  of  the  gospel. 

I  will  illustrate  my  meaning:  The  Flat-headed  Indians 
are  a  tribe  who  live  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  about 
three  thousand  miles  distant  from  St.  Louis.  A  trader 
from  Canada  visited  that  tribe  two  years  and  a  half  ago, 
and  saw  them  engaged  in  idolatrous  worship.  He  told 
them  that  there  exists  a  true  God  who  is  altogether  differ- 
ent from  the  one  that  they  worshipped,  which  was  an  idol, 
and  had  no  definite  existence  or  character;  and  that  the 
true  God  had  given  to  the  -people  of  these  United  States , 
A.  BOOK,  in  which  he  had  made  knoicn  his  own  character 
and  worship,  which  would  teach  them  all  that  was  neces- 
sary for  them  to  know  concerning  him  and  themselves, 
and  how  they  might  worship  him  acceptably,  and  possess 
his  favour,  and  be  happy  in  him.  This  information  ope- 
rated upon  their  sentient  minds,  and  induced  them  to  call 
a  council  of  the  whole  tribe  to  consult  on  the  subject,  and 
upon  full  consideration,  determined  them  to  send  several 


THE   RELIGION-GIVING    OPEUATIOWv  213 

of  their  Chiefs  on  a  journey  of  three  thousand  miles  to 
Gen.  Clark  at  St.  Louis,  with  whose  character  they  were 
acquainted,  to  obtain  information  relative  to  the  book  and 
the  God  that  it  revealed.  They  undertook  the  journey, 
and  two  of  the  number  died  on  their  way.  The  survivors 
arrived,  and  after  being  informed  by  Gen.  Clark  that  there 
is  such  a  book,  and  such  a  God,  and  such  a  worship  as  had 
been  described  to  them,  and  having  learnt  somethino" 
about  them,  they  resumed  their  journey  of  three  thousand 
miles  back  again,  to  bear  the  pleasing  intelligence  to 
their  tribe.  As  far  as  these  Chiefs  understood  the  chris- 
tian religion,  by  the  instruction  they  received  from  the  tra- 
der and  Gen.  Claris,  they  believed  it. 

These  people  had  native  religious  susceptibilities,  al- 
though, like  the  Ephesians,  they  were  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins.  Their  susceptibilities  were  acted  upon,  and 
they  were  enlightened  in  some  small  degree,  by  the  informa- 
tion of  the  Canadian  trader.  And  the  minds  of  these 
Indians  acted  upon  the  intelligence  they  received. 

Their  whole  nation  or  tribe,  lived,  moved  and  had  their 
being  m  God,  through  the  ages  and  generations  that  were 
passed.  God,  in  their  constitution,  had  given  to  them 
powers  of  intellect  and  feeling,  which  rendered  them  ca- 
pable of  religion,  and  which  He  sustained,  hut  of  his  sup- 
port they  were  naturally  ignorani:;  and  their  messen- 
gers travelled  six  thousand  miles  on  foot,  to  obtain 'in  form- 
ation on  the  subject.  There  is  but  one  Jehovah,  one  only 
living  and  true  God.  He  giveth  to  all,  life  and  breath, 
and  all  things,  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations 
of  men.  In  his  wisdom,  the  world  by  wisdom,  since  man 
fell,  has  not  known  him.  His  existence  and  character, 
have  been  made  known,  by  the  personal  manifestations 
of  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirii,  who  exist  in  the  one  Je- 
hovah. These  manifestations  were  made  by  divine  super- 
19 


214  THE    RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION, 

natural  revelations,  in  words  and  sentences,  and  in  mirac- 
ulous works.     These  have    been  recorded  in  the   book  of 
God,  and  since  the  miraculous  powers  have  ceased  or  have 
been  withdrawn,  which  was  not  long  after  the  record  was 
finished,  this  record  of  God''s  word  ha^sbeen  the  established 
means,  by  the  appointment  of  God,  for  enlightening  the  hu- 
man mind  in  religion,  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  di- 
vine and  eternal  things.    Do  not  matters  of  fact  prove  these 
things  to' be  true?     Why  \y ere    the  Flat  Head  Indians 
obliged  to  travel  six  thausand  miles  to  obtain  this  informa- 
tion from   the  Word  of  God  itself,   imparted  to  them  by 
Qeneral  Clark  and  friends,  if  God  gives  to -the  mind  this 
information  without  his  v/ord?    .The^arae  question  might 
be  asked  in  reference  to  the  v.  hole  world,  since  the  Apos- 
tles were  commissioned  to  go  and  preach  the  v»^ord,  and  its 
effects  in  turning  men  from  darkness  to  light  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  to  serve  the  living  God.     It  might  also  be 
asked,  could  not  God  have  given  these  Flat  Head  Indians 
religion  without  this  long  journey,  to  learn  from  the  word 
his  existence,  and  gospel  character  and  plan  of  salvation, 
and  acceptable  worship?  And  could  not  God  have  given  the 
Athenians  and  Ephesians,and  other  idolaters  and  Atheists, 
religion  without  sending  Paul  and  the  other  Apostles  to 
them  with  his  word?     And  cannot  the  present  heathen  na- 
tions be  converted  without  gospel  missionaries,  by  the  im- 
mediate revelations  and  power  of  God?  and  cannot  child- 
ren be  taught  religion  by  the  Spirit  without  religious  in- 
struction and  training  by  the  Scriptures  ?    It  would  he  just 
as  reasonable  to  ask  further,   cannot  God   support  men 
without  air  and  food?  cannot  God  enable  a  person  to  see 
without  light,  for  he  made  all  these  things  and  sustains 
them?     God  has  a  right  to  limit  him&elf  to  the  ways  and 
means  of  his  own   appointment  and  choice,  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  religious  purposes  and  ends,  as  well  as  in  na- 


THE    RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION.  2lb 

aiire.  This  he  has  done,  and  requires  of  us  to  know  it  and 
?o  acquiesce  in  it,  and  to  go.along  v/ithliim  in  the  use  of  the 
means  which  he  has  ordained  in  botli  cases.  It  was  God?s 
iL'orcl  that  Paul  and  Apollos  planted  and,  watered.  They 
planted  and  watered  this  word  in  the  soil  of  the  human 
mind  that  God  had  raade,  and  which  he  rendered  suscep- 
tible of  growing  the  seed  and  pfoducing'the  increase:  and 
thus  iJw  whole  was  from  God:  tka  seed — Hie  power  of  the 
^ower  arid  waterer,  nnd  their  commission  to  sow  and  water, 
and  their  qualifications  to.  do  so,  and  ihe  fertility  of  the 
soil,  are  all'  of  God,  and  there  is  nothin_g  properly  human 
or  natural — nothing  that  is  properly  Paul's  cr  Apbllos's  in 
the  c:ise — Paul  and  Apollos  were  only  ministers  of  the 
'^^3d,  by  whom  the  Corinthians  believed,  and  nothing 
-more — God  gave  the  increase  and  claims  the  glory  to  him- 
.self.  This  is  true  in  the  present  day.  The  word  of  God 
revealed  to  Paul  and  to  the  other  Apostles,  and  to  the 
Evangelists  is  recorded,  and  by  divine  appointment  we 
are  limited  to  it  in  preaching  and  teaching  aiKl  learning 
the  things  of  God  in  the  gospeL  Bat  we  are  apt  to  de- 
stroy the  good  seed  of  the  word,  or  the  soil  in  7vhich  we  are 
commanded  to  sow  it,  hy  erroneous  views  of  that  word, 
and  by  a  false  philosophy  concei'ning  it  and  the  soil. 
These  things  unfit  men  for-  sowing  the  good  seed. 
They  of  en  destroy  the  vitality  of  the  word,  which  is  spirit 
and  life,  and  extinguish. the  fertility  of  the  soil,  before  they 
sow;  and  they  often  sow  their  wretched  speculations, 
which  are  no  better  than  darnel  or  pebhles,  instead  of  the 
good  seed  of  the  word  of  the  gospel.  They  are  more  con- 
cerned to  maJce  the  people  believe  that  the  gospel  of  God's 
grace  is  a  sealed  book  and  a  dead  letter,  and  that  they  can- 
not  believe  itj  than  they  are  so  to  present  it  as  to  occasion 
them  to  believe  it:  and  this  they  call  orthodoxy  or  the 
true  faith. 


216  THE   RELIGION'GIVING    OFERATION, 

The  pious  zeal  of  the  Methodist  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians in  New  York,  has  induced  them  to  set  on  foot  a  mis- 
sion to  bear  the  word  of  the  gospel  of  God's  grace  to  the 
Flat  Head  Indians.  The  missionaries  will  not  carry  the 
natural  presence  and  physical  operation  of  God  to  them,  or 
spiritual  susceptibilities  and  power.  -  These  they  possess, 
and  they  have  been  under  the  influence  of  them  since  they 
had  a  ?ja^wraZ  existence:  but  fliey -will  carry  to  them  the 
religion-giving  system  of  truth — the  word  of  God'' s  grace, 
by  which  He.  gives  religion,  and  which  was  fuiiy  revealed 
and  perfected  more  than  seventeen  hundred  years  ago,  by 
the  revelations  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  To  this  system  no- 
thing is  to  be  added,  and  from  it  nothing  is  to  be  taken,  ^n 
giving  them  religion,  God  limits  himself  io  his  o>^'ni|C|d 
and  to  a  known  language ;  therefore  the  gospel  must  be  eith- 
er translated  into  the  language  of  the  Flat  Head  Indians, 
or  thev  must  learn  the  Eno-lish  lanjjuaije  in  v>hich  it  is 
written,  in  order  that  he  shall  give  it,  and  they  shall  re- 
ceive it.  These  observations  to  many  may  appear  to  be 
very  strange,  gratuitous  and  arbitrary.  To  such  I  would 
ask,  Of  what  use  to  an  English  congregation  would  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  Greek  or  Hebrew  or  Latin  be? 
Of  what  advantage  would  preaching  the  gospel  in  a  foreign 
language  be  to  such  a  congregation?  Paul  says,  that  such 
reading  and  preaching  would  be  of  no  use  whatever — that 
the  reader  and  preacher  and  congregation  would  be  bar- 
barians to  each  other,  not  because  Gol  cannot  enable  their 
hearers  to  understand,  but  because  he  u'ill  not;  and  he 
Vf'iWnot  bccaise  it  is  not  according  to  his  own  chosen  wise 
method  or  plan  for  doing  it.  The  hearers  have  powers 
and  susceptibilities  which  render  them  capable  of  religion, 
but  they  are  not  acted  upon,  and  cannot  be  by  God's  word, 
when  presented  in  an  unknown  language.  1  Cor.  xiv,2-!i-. 
25:  Rom.  X,  17. 


THE    RELIGION-GIVING    OPEIIATION.  217 

I  formerly  observed,  that  the  original  ideas  which  are 
revealed  by  the  word  of  God,  .«nd  which  are  essential  to 
the  existence  of  religion,  and  particularly  to  the  Christian 
religion,  are  but  few;  but  these,  if  taken  away,  with  all 
their  spiritual  associations,  extinguish  every  idea  or  notion 
of  spiritual  existence.  These  are,  God  the  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Ghost — Creation — Man's  fall — his  immortality,  spir- 
itual existence — redemption  through  the  blood  of  Christ — 
the  resurrection  of  the  body — a  future  judgment — heaven 
and  hell — new  heavens  and  a  new  earth.  These  ideas 
were  revealed  by  words,  and  are  perpetuated  by  the  same. 
Some  of  these  ideas  the  nations  of  the  earth  have,  through 
traditions  derived  from  early  revelations,  which  are,  how- 
ever, very  much  corrupted. 

If  the  missionaries,  v,  ho  go  to  the  Flat  Head  Indians, 
sow  the  good  seed  that  Paul  sowed,  and  water  as  Apollos 
watered,  they  will  make  just  such  Christians  as  Paul  and 
Apollos  made;  or  if  they  alter  in  theso  respects  the  Apos- 
tolic means  and  order  of  things,  they  will  produce  a  dif- 
ferent increase  from  what  Paul  and  A  olios  produced.  But 
it  will  not  do  to  ascribe  it  to  God  in  ihe  degree  in  which  it 
differs  from  the  religion  of  Apostolical  Christians.  "  What- 
soever a  man  soweth  ih  it  shall  ho  ;  :so  reap."  The  seed 
must  be  God''s  seed — it  must  be  t..  >  incorruptihle  seed  of 
the  word,  apprehended  and  belie  ved  in  its  own  divine 
sense  and  meaning,  and  appropriated  to  t'le  purposes  of 
thought,  fliith,  hope,  love  and  conduct,  for  which  it  was  de- 
signed, in  order  to  produce  the  fruits  of  righteousness.  It 
is  in  this  way  that  it  grows.  It  must  be  taught  them  in  a 
known  language,  for  3od  will  not  give  them  religion — he 
will  not  save  them  by  grace  through  faith,  which  is  the 
gift  of  God,  but  through  his  own  word,  which  is  easy  to  be 
understood,  when  properly  presented,  and  which  they  must 
believe;  because  faith  comes  by  the  word  of  God.  Thia 
19* 


218  THE   RELrolON-GlVING    OPERATION. 

was  verified  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  the  prophecies 
in  the  old  testament,  and  the  promises  of  Christ  in  the 
new,  were  fulfilled  in  a  literal  and  perfect  manner  by  the 
out-pouring  of  the  spirit.  When  the  Galilean  discipliss, 
upon  whom  the  spirit  was  poured  out,  spaJie  in  foreign 
tongues,  the  men  of  Judea  did  not  understand  what  they 
said;  and  while  the  strangers,  the  devout  Jews  from  every 
nation  under  heaven — heard  them  speaking  in  their  own 
languages  in  which  they  were  born,  the  wonderful  works 
of  God  in  reference  to  Jesus  Christ  and  the  gospel,  with 
amazement  and  wonder,  the  men  of  Judea  mocked  and 
said,  that  they  were  drunk  with  new  wine :  their  speech 
was  without  meaning  or  sense.  To  these  very  men,  who 
thus  mocked,  Peter,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  rest  of  the 
Apostles,  spoke : — Peter  addressed  their  sentient  minds  in- 
telligibly, and  said,  "  Yo  men  of  Judea,  and  all  ye  that 
dwell  at  Jerusalem,  he  this  known  unto  you,  and  hearken 
to  my  words:  for  these  are  not  drunken  us  ye  suppose. 
But  this  is  that  which  was  spoken  by  Joel  the  prophet,  " 
&:,c.  These  mockers,  at  the  end  of  the  disconrse,  on  ac- 
count of  what  they  saw  and  heard  and  understood,  were 
pricked  in  the  heart,  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  changed 
their  minds,  and  renounced  Moses  and  the  law  for  remis- 
sion of  sin,  and  received  Jesus  Christ  for  salvation,  and 
were  baptised  into  the  remission  of  sins  for  his  sake,  or 
into  his  salvation.  Faith  was  given  to  them  and  salvation 
with  it,  by  God,  by  their  hearing,  understanding  and  be- 
lieving the  word.  The  Apostle  Paul  also  testifies  most 
clearly  that  the  religion-giving  operation  of  God  is  by  his 
word,  uttered  in  a  known  language  and  understood.  He 
says,  "  I  thank  God  I  speak  with  tongues  more  than  you 
all,  yet  in  the  church  I  had  rather  speak  five  words  with 
my  understanding,  that  is,  intelligibly,  that  by  my  voice  I 
might  teach  others  also,  than  ten  thousand  words  in  an  un- 


THE   RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATlOiN.  219 

known  tongue.     If,  therefore,  the  whole   church  be  come 
together  into  one  place,  and  aft  speak  with  tongues,  and 
there  come  in  these  that  are  unlearned  and    unbelievers, 
will  they  not  say  that  ye    are  mad  ?     But  if  all  prophesy, 
or  teach  intelligibly,  and  there  come  in  one  that  believeth 
not,  or  one  that  is  unlearned,  he  is  convinced  of  all,  he  is 
judged  of  all :  (by  the  Spirit  speaking  in  them  intelligibly) 
and  thus  are  the  secrets  of  his  heart  made  manifest;  and  so 
falling  down  on  his  face,  he  will  worship  God,  and  report 
that  God  is  in  you  of  a  truth."  1  Cor.  xiv,  18,  19,  23-25. 
By  tliese  means  their  religious  and  spiritual  powers  and 
susceptibilities  are  impressed  and  improved  into  religion — 
God  does  it  all.     On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  religious  or 
spiritual  susceptibilities  of  the  three  thousand  were  improv- 
ed into  Christian  capabilities  by  the  gospel  of  God's  grace 
spoken  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  was  in  the  speakers.    The 
agency  God  empJoyed  in  converting  them.v,as  a  real  and 
proper  agency—aul  it  v/as  a  religion-giving  agency,  exer- 
cised upon  the  minds  of  the  people  in  a  way  suited  to  their 
intellectual  and.  moral  nature;  and  the    means  employed 
were  spiritual  means,  consisting  in  the  very  words  and  sen- 
tences which  were  revealed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  in  the 
miraculous  works  which  they  saw.  It  was  by  i\ie\r  sense  and 
meaning,  understood  and  believed,  that  these  people  were 
converted.    God  gave  to  them  a  new  heart,  comprehending 
a  neiD  taste  and  disposition  to  relish  divine  things,  and  to 
love  and  serve  him.     These,  however,  were  given  to  them 
through  the  atonement  of  .lesus  Christ,  and  by  the  grace 
of  God  by  the  gospel.     They  had  no  power  in  themselves 
naturally  to  enlighten  their  own   minds  or  to  change  their 
own  hearts,  or  to  give  themselves  new  hearts.     Salvation 
is  of  God — God  had  mercy  upon  them,  and  sent  to  them  de- 
liverance hy  the  gospel,  ^' ivhich  proclaims  liberty  to  the 
captive,  and  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every 


220  THE     RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATION, 

one  that  hclievetlu  "  The  religion-giving  operation  of  God 
was  different  from  the  agency  that  he  employed  in  raising 
the  dead  body  of  Lazarus,  and  in  curing  the  palsy;  and 
it  was  different  from  that  employed  in  sustaining  Moses 
forty  days  without  food, 

"  As  our  feelin;^?,  "  in  the  language  of  Payne's  Philoso- 
phy, "depend  upon  the  nature  of  theohjects  by  which  the 
mind  is  affected,*'  so  the  religious  affections  must  be  pro- 
duced by  the  percewed  sense  and  meaning  of  the  spiritual 
or  divine  o!)jects  which  impress  the  mind  through  revela- 
tion. God's  justice  and  mercy,  and  his  grace  and  truth 
manifested  by  the  gospel,  bring  the  soul  wiih  all  its  powers 
and  susceptibilities  under  divine  gospel  influence.  The 
Holy  Ghost  was  promised  by  Christ  to  convince  the  world 
of  sin,  and  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment,  or  as  Storr 
and  Piatt  render  it,  as  formerly  quoted:  "  lie  will  instruct 
the  world  on  the  ^ul  ject  of  their  sins,  their  pardon,  and 
their  liberation  from  the  power  of  Satan,  which  was  ground- 
ed on  Christ's  going  to  the  Father,  his  death,  resurrection 
and  glorification. "  John  xvi,  8-10.  The  Holy  Ghost  con- 
vinced the  penticostal  Jews  of  sin  and  of  righteousness, 
and  of  judgment,  and  conver!:ed  them  to  Jesus  Christ.  He 
did  not  speak  of  himse-f,  but  he  took  the  things  of  Christ 
and  showed  them  to  (he  Apostles,  and  through  and  by  them 
to  the  people,  as  he  did  en  all  other  occasions,  in  which 
sinners  were  converted  by  them.  If  we  examine  care- 
fully what  the  Spirit  said  by  Peter  in  the  second  chapter 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  convinced  and  convert- 
ed three  thousand  souls,  we  shall  see  a  great  difference  be- 
tween the  agencies  of  the  Sjjirit  on  that  occasion,  by  which 
Jewish  sinners  were  con  veiled,  and  the  agencies  which 
are  supposed  to  be  employed  in  ihc  conversion  of  sinners 
in  modern  times.  We  have  now  the  record  of  what  was 
then  exhibited  miraculously.^  but  the  record  is  not  relied  on. 


THE    RELIGION-GIVING    OPERATIO:*.  22t 

The  powers  and  susceptibilities  of  the  mincl,  which  ren- 
der men  capable  of  religion,  and  which  enable  thera  to  at- 
tend to,  understand,  berieve  and  feel  ifs  t-rulh  and  import- 
ance, are,  by  the  divine  constitution  of  things,  i^iprovablk 
under  gospel  light  and  iiulaence.  They  are  the  same  now 
that  they  v/ere  in  the  d  lys  of  the  ApbstlBs.  This  is  man- 
ifested in  the  eilecrs  of  the  judicious  and  well  directed  ef- 
forts of  pious  parents  in  the  religious  instruction  of  their 
children  f  and  in  missionary  labors  among  the  heathen  na- 
tions, and  also  in  the  effects  of  protracted  meetings  for  pub- 
lic worshipi.  If  these  meetings  were  conducted  more  with  a 
view  to  enlighten  the'un  Jerstanding  by  the  knowledge  of 
gospel  truth,  to  convince  the  jud^<nent,  aiid  to  engage  the 
confidence  and  afro 3ti  jus  jn  practical  religion,  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  the  effects  would  be  much  greater  and  more 
permanent  than  they  are.  In  ihesc  cases  I  repeat,  that  all 
that  can  be  alleged  of  elTects  which  God  produces  in  an 
immediate  it'ai/,  consist,  not  in  making  new  revelations  or 
making  new  faculties,  but  in  aptitude  and  susceptibility  of 
mind  to  ati^end  to,  perceive'f"  believe  and  feel  the  truth,  and 
to  re^.cive  to  itself  the  doctrines  of  the  holy  volume.  And 
yet  these  effects  are  not  the  religion-giving,  operation  of 
God  without  the  word,  because  that  is  limited  to  the  word 
of  God  itself,  which  operates  upon  them  and  the  mind  up- 
on the  word,  as  in  the  absence  of  the  word  nothing  of  a 
spiritual  nature  can  be  attended  to,  discerned  or  believed, 
however  acute  the  powers  and  susceptibilities  of  the  mind 
may  be. 


ESSAY    XIIL 


THE    HOLY     SPI  RIT 


The  out-pouring  of  the  Sph-Jt  —  The  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  —  Gifts 
of  the  Spirit  —  Seal  and  confirmation  of  the  Spiric  —  The  Apostolic 
office. 

There  are  many  forms  of  expression  u&ed  in  the  New 
Testament,  which  were  applicable  to  the  state  of  things, 
and  to  events  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  and  which  were 
descriptive  of  spiritual  operations,  gifts  and  personal  en- 
dowments of  christians  then,  which  cannot,  in  the  same 
se?ise,  be  applied  to  the  state  of  things,  and  events,  and  to 
christians  now.  This  is  owing  to  the  actual  difTcrencc 
that  existed,  between  the  spiritual  gifts  and  revelations, 
by  which  the  christian  religion  was  made  known,  and 
confirmed,  in  the  Apostolic  age,  and  the  present.  Then, 
they  were  miraculous  and  supernatural,  consisting  in 
signs  and  icontlers^  and  in  immediate  revelations  in  words. 
Now,  they  are  made  known  by  the  written  word  of  these 
things,  read  or  heard,  and  understood. 

Unless  this  difference  be  understood  and  kept  in  mind, 
the  facts  themselves,  and  the  forms  of  expression  used  to 
designate  them  in  the  word,  and  which  are  the  means  of 
our  religion,  will  be  misunderstood,  and  we  shall  be  liable 
to  great  error,  as  to  God-s  way  of  imparting  religion. 
The  origin,  use  and  actual  authority  of  the  written  word  of 
God,  and  the  Apostolic  qualifications  for  writing  it,  will 
be  overlooked,  and  its  use  in  the  establishment  of  the  re- 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT.  223 

ligion  and  Chnrch  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  their  perpetua- 
tion will  be  misapprehended. 

A  failure  to  make  the  distinction  between  the  super- 
natural gifts  and  operations  of  the  Spirit,  and  their  de- 
sign and  use  in  the  Apostolic  age,  which  were  essential 
to  the  commencement  and  establishment  of  the  gospel, 
from  the  present  state  produced  by  the  word  of  the  Apos- 
tles, and  the  institutions  of  the  gospel,  is  the  cause  of  the 
most  extravagant  errors  that  exist.  It  lies  at  the  founda- 
tion of  all  the  w'ild  fanaticism  that  has  appeared  in  the 
springing  up  of  new:  opinions  and  sects  in  the  christian 
religion,  and  in  the  propagation  of  them.  They  regard  the 
inspirations  and  revelations  of  the  Apostolic  age,  models 
or  examples  of  their  inspirations  and  revelations,  not 
knowing  that  wl^t  the  Evangelists,  and  the  Apostles 
wrote  by  inspiration  and  revelation,  is;  the  only  means  of 
their  spiritual  knowledge,  beyond  which  they  cannot  go. 

The  learned  Parkhurst,  seems  to  hav-e  been  somewhat 
bewildered  on  the  subject  of  God's. grace,  on  account  of 
a  want  of  proper  discrimination  here.  He  observes,  that 
"Grace  denotes  the  gracious  and  unmerited  assistance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  m  his  n^iraculous  gifts.  But  although  I 
firmly  believe  in  his  blessed  operations  and  influences  on 
the  hearts  of  ordinary  believers,  yet,  {hat  grace  is  ever 
used  particularly/  for  these,  is  more  than  I  dare,  after  at- 
tentive examination,  assert."  The  miraculous  gifts,  un- 
der the  influence  of  which"  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  in 
all  its  parts  was  revealed,  confirmed  and  recorded,  have 
ceased,  because  there  was  no  necessityfor  their  continu- 
ance, after  the  objects  of  them  were  accomplished;  and 
his  blessed  operations  and  influences  are  exerted  upon 
the  human  mind  now,  by  and  through  that  word.  By  this 
word,  God  gives  faith  to  unbelievers,  and  in  no  other  way; 
and  through  it  he  sanctifies  heViewers]  by  it   he  teaches 


224  THE    HOLY    SPIRIT. 

them  nothing  more  than  is  found  in  its  sense  and  mean- 
ing, and  he  teaches  all  alike.     If  there  be  any  difference 
in  their  religious  views  and  faith,  he  is  not  the  author  of 
it  as  far  as  it  is  unscriptural.     In  this  case  all  are  ordinary 
believers,  and  God  impartshis  gracious  influences  to  their 
hearts,  through  the    atonement  and    mediation  of  Jesus 
Christ,  by  the  truth.    He  s^inctifies  them  through  the  truth. 
Some  of  John's  disciples,  v/ho  were    true  believers  to 
a  limiled  extent,  said,    We  have  not' so  much  as  heard 
whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost,     Acts  xix,  2.     Chris- 
tians are  sensible  that  their  views  and  feelings  in  regard 
to  religious  subjects,  have  undergone  an  important  and 
essential   change,  but  they  are  not   conscious  that  the 
change  was  effected  by  any  Ibiii  ■"  more  than  a  clearer 
view  and  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  a  deeper  and  more 
lively  sense  of  its  practical  nature  iuid  impoj'tance.     They 
are  convinced   from  the  views,  affections  and  desires  of 
their  minds  and  hearts,  in  'regard  to  spiritual  and  moral 
subjects,  that  they  have  experienced  a  change.      They 
judge  from  the  correspondence  of  the  states  of  their  own 
minds,  with   what  is  recorded  in  the  word  oF  God,  of  the 
fruits  of  the  Spii'it,  that  they  arc  born  of  the  Spirit,  and 
are  new  creatures.     In  the  histpry  of  their  experience, 
however,  they  cannot  detect  the  least  suspension  of  their 
voluntary  agency.     They  arc  not  conscious  of  any  phys- 
ical influence  of  the  Spirit  exerted  upon  them,  which  was 
apart  and   distinct   from   the    v.ord   of  God's  grace,  and  - 
from  what  they  had  seen  and  heard,  concerning  his  salva- 
tion given  to  us  in   Christ.     They  have  new  views  and 
new  states  of  feeling  concerning  God  and  his  religion,  and 
the  character  and  offices  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Saviour. 
They  are  conscious  that  a  change  has  been  effected,  and 
that  it  is  a  spiritual  moral  change,  a  transfer  of  the  affec- 
tions from  the  world,  and  from  sensual  and  sordid  objects, 


THE   HOLY    SPIRIT.  225 

lO  God,  in  entire  consistency  with  the  nature  and  laws  of 
moral  agency,  produced  by  the  discernment  and  belief  of 
the  truth  in  Christ  Jesus.  When  we  look  into  the  word 
of  God's  grace,  we  find,  that  the  rich  provisions  of  the 
new  covenant,  which  secure  the  remission  of  sin,  the  im- 
partation  of  God's  Spirit,  and  eternal  life  to  the  true  be- 
liever in  Jesus  Christ,  through  faith,  have  been  imparted 
to  these  believers,  because  they  manifest  the  fruits  of 
them.  Being  justified  by  faith  they  have  peace  with  God, 
through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  rejoice  in  the  hope  of 
his  glory. 

All  Protestant  Christians  agree,  that  since  the  immedi- 
ate revelations  of  the  Spirit  ceased,  ail  that  is  true,  and 
all  that  can  be  known  of  divine  things,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  sense  and  meaning  of  the  written  word  o(  God,  and 
that  man's  religion  is  most  pure  and  spiritual,  which  is 
most  correspondent  in  understanding,  will,  affections  and 
conduC,  with  the  sense  and  meaning  of  that  word,  al- 
though he  may  not  be  able  to  explain  philosophically 
any  thing  about  it.  Sinners  are  converted  by  the  word 
of  God's  Spirit,  and  not  by  speculations  and  theories  con- 
cerning his  operations. 

The  out-pouring  of  the  Spirit,  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Gliost,  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  seal  and  confirma- 
tion of  the  Spirit,  as  these  terms  relate  to  the  miraculous 
operations  and  revelations  of  the  Spirit,  were  incident  to 
the  Apostolic  age,  and  are  forms  of  expression  which 
answer  to,  and  describe  facts  and  things  that  then  existed, 
and  which  were  essential  to  the  commencement  and  es- 
tablishment of  the  christain  religion  and  church,  as  they 
are  by  the  record  of  them,  to  their  present  existence  and 
perpetuation. 

Upon  the  truth  of  the  record  of  these  facts,  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  record,  the  conversion  of  sinners,  the 
20 


226  THE    HOLY    SPIRIT. 

faith  of  christians,  and  the  formation  of  the  christian 
character  depend,  and  ever  have  depended,  since  the 
Apostolic  age,  and  will  continue  to  depend  through  all 
succeeding  time.  The  gospel  record  is  the  mould  of  the 
christian  character,  and  as  that  mould  has  at  any  time 
been  mutilated  or  marred,  or  corrupted,  so  have  been  the 
defects  of  the  christian  character  formed  by  it. 

AH  that  can  be  done  properly  and  truly  to  propagate 
the  christian  religion,  is  necessarily  limited  by,  and  is  de- 
pendent upon,  the  recorded  word  of  God,  and  must  con- 
sist in  making  the  sense  and  meaning  of  it  known  to 
mankind,  that  they  may  understand,  believe  and  practise 
it,  that  they  may  be  spiritually  holy  and  happy.  That 
recorded  word  is  the  christian  religion.  The  history  of 
every  age  proves  the  truth  of  these  remarks,  although 
the  christian  world  has  been  very  slow  to  learn  it. 

After  the  long  period  of  Roman  Catholic  superstition, 
ignorance,  idolatry  and  darkness,  it  was  difficult  to  learn 
that  the  scriptures  are  the  ordained  means  of  spiritual 
light,  and  of  divine  influence,  by  which  God  communi- 
cates religion  to  the  human  mind,  and  renews  the  heart. 

The  material  substances  and  powers  in  the  natural 
world,  were  created  and  made  in  six  days,  by  the  imme- 
diate miraculous  power  of  God,  and  all  the  effects  which 
God  now  produces  in  nature,  are  referable  to,  and  are  de- 
pendant upon  them.  God  works  by  them.  This  we 
know  by  faith;  and  hence,  to  the  believing  mind,  the  heav- 
ens declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament  sheweth 
his  handy  work.  So  it  is  in  regard  to  the  christian  reli- 
gion. Its  whole  truth  is  in  the  record,  as  Protestants  say, 
in  opposition  to  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  was  put  there 
in  the  Apostolic  age  by  the  revelations  and  inspirations 
of  the  Spirit.  This  truth  is  now  the  divine  means  of  en- 
lightening the  world,  and  all  the  effects  that  God  produces 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT.  227 

\n  the  conversion  of  sinners  to  himself,  are  through  and 
by  this  word.  In  the  accomplishment  of  these  ends  he 
employs  preachers  and  teachers.  What  other  objects  do 
Missionaries  labour  for  among  the  heathen,  but  to  trans- 
late them  into  the  Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  through  faith 
in  him,  in  whom  they  have  redemption  through  his  blood, 
even  the  forgiveness  of  sins? 

All  the  predictions  and  prophecies  of  the  out-pourings 
and  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  made  by  the  old  testament  Proph- 
ets, related  to  the  introduction  and  establishment  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Spirit,  or  of  the  gospel,  and  to  the  spir- 
itual blessings  secured  in  and  communicated  by  it,  all  of 
which  by  the  divine  constitution  of  things,  depended  upon, 
and  were  to  flow  from,  the  dcv^th  and  mediation  of  Jesus 
Christ.  And  all  the  special  and  particular  promises  that 
Christ  made  to  .his  disciples,  and  especially  to  the  Apos- 
tles before  he  died,  and  after  he  died  and  rose  from  the 
dead,  before  he  ascended  to  heaven,  of  the  gifts  and  op- 
-eratioas  of  the  Spirit,  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
his  inspirations  and  revelations,  related  to  the  same  sub- 
jects and  the  same  objects.  These  promises  of  Christ  be- 
fore he  died,  are  found  in  John  vii,  37-39:  xiv,  15-17, 
26:  XV,  26,  27:  xvi,  8-10,  12-16.  His  promises  after 
he  rose  from  the  dead,  and  before  he  ascended,  are  re- 
corded in  Luke  xxiv,  46-49:  Mark  xvi,  15-20:  Acts  i, 
3-8:  Math,  xxviii,  18-20.  The  fulfillment  of  these  prom- 
ises  were  the  accomplishment  of  ancient  prophecies. 

In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  beginning  with  the  second 
chapter,  we  have  a  history  of  the  first  thirty  years  of  the 
religion  and  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  after  he  was  glori- 
fied, beginning  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  In  that  history, 
we  find  the  interpretation  and  meaning,  and  use  of  the 
predictions  and  promises  of  the  out-pourings  of  the  Spirit, 
made  by  the  Prophets  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  by  Christ 
in  the  IStew, 


228  THE    HOLY    SPIRIT* 

The  Spirit  was  bestowed  I'pon  none  hut  believers. — - 
His  offices  and  agencies  were  to  reveal  the  things  of 
Christ  to  the  Apostles  and  other  disciples,  by  immediate 
revelations  and  inspirations,  and  through  them  to  others, 
who  were  unbelievers,  for  their  conversion  to  God.  The 
words  of  the  Apostles  thus  revealed  by  the  Spirit,  were 
confirmed  by  signs  or  by  miraculous  works,  which  were 
exhibited  to  the  external  senses  of  the  hearers  and  spec- 
tators. These  were  employed  in  making  known,  and  in 
confirming  the  divine  purpose  of  God  in  the  gospel,  which 
had  before  been  secret,  or  but  partially  revealed,  for  the 
salvation  of  man. 

Unless  we  attend  strictly  to  the  historical  facts  and 
statements,  as  detailed  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we 
shall  misapprehend  the  truth,  in  respect  to  those  upon 
whom  the  Holy  Ghost  was  poured  out,  and  the  object  of 
it  as  many  have  done,  and  the  means  by  which  the  three 
thousand  Jews  were  converted  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,- 
and  the  means  by  which  all  other  conversions  were  ef- 
fected, as  they  are  stated  in  the  word. 

The  Spirit  was  promised  by  Joel,  to  be  poured  out  upon 
allfiesh:  ch.  ii,  28.  "All  flesh,"  Henry  observes,  "in 
this  place  means  some  of  all  nations,  conditions  and  sexes." 
Those  persons  of  each  nation  upon  whom  the  Spirit  was 
poured  out,  represented  the  whole  of  that  nation  or  class 
of  people,  to  which  they  belonged.  And  the  out-pouring 
was  a  fulfillment  of  ancient  prophecies,  and  a  proof  of 
their  truth,  as  they  were  of  Christ's  promises,  and  they 
were  an  earnest  and  pledge  of  God's  salvation  to  all  who 
should  believe,  for  the  Spirit  was  bestowed  upon  none  but 
believers.  The  out-pouring  of  the  Spirit,  which  was  the 
promise  of  the  Father,  and  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
spoken  of  by  John  the  Baptist,  and  by  Jesus  Christ,  (Math, 
iii,  11:  Acts  i,  5,)  which  were  bestowed  upon  believers, 


fHE    HOLY    SPIRIT.  229 

indicated  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  religion,  and  the 
reign  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  universality  of  the  bless- 
ings of  the  gospel  to  all  people  who  should  believe. 

The  out-pouring  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  were  bestowed  upon  believers  after 
Christ  ascended  into  heaven,  sealed  and  confirmed  the 
truth,  that  his  sufferings  and  death  were  expiatory  and 
vicarious,  and  were  appointed  and  endured  by  the  decree 
of  God,  and  that  he  offered  himself  as  a  sacrifice  for  sin, 
which  was  accepted  by  God ;  and  in  consequence  of  w  hich, 
be  was  made  our  High  Priest  forev-er. 

The  Spirit  was  poured  out  upon  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  disciples  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  who  were  by 
the  direction  of  Jesus  Christ,  all  together  in  one  place, 
waiting  for  the  promise  of  the  Father,  and  for  power  from 
on  high,  consisting  in  the  miraculous  gifts  and  inspira- 
tions of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Under  their  influence,  and  by 
the  authority  of  them,  they  were  to  go  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  repentance  and  remission  of  sin,  throuo-h  the 
death  and  resurrection  and  reign  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  every 
creature.  They  were  commanded  to  begin  at  Jerusa- 
lem, where  they  were  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  by 
which  they  were  enabled  to  understand,  and  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  all  nations. 

The  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  promised  to  the  three 
thousand,  after  they  should  repent  and  be  baptized  into 
the  remission  of  sin,  or  into  the  salvation  of  God  in  the 
gospel,  in  the  name,  or  on  account  of  Jesus  Christ,  by 
Peter,  who  asked  him  and  the  rest  of  the  Apostles  what 
they  should  do  to  be  saved,  under  an  affecting  sense  of 
their  guilt  and  danger.  The  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
promised  to  them,  v/as  doubtless  the  same  that  they  saw 
possessed  and  manifested  in  cloven  tongues  of  fire,  and 
in  the  use  of  foreign  languages  or  tongues  by  the  hundred 
20* 


230  THE  holv  spirit. 

and  twenty  disciples,  but  which  the  disciples  of  John  the 
Baptist  had  not  heard  was  to  be  received,  who  Paul 
saw  at  Ephesus.  Acts  xix,  2.  This  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  they  doubtless  received  after  they  changed  their 
minds,  and  believed  in  Jesus  Christ  and  were  baptized. 
They  received  it  as  a  seal  and  confirmation  of  the  truth 
of  all  that  they  had  seen  and  heard,  and  by  the  opera- 
tions and  revelations  of  which,  they  were  fully  taught 
the  end  of  the  Mosaical  economy,  and  the  truth  of  the 
gospel. 

There  appears  to  have  been  the  utmost  propriety  in 
promising  the  Spirit  to  the  three  thousand  Pentecostal 
Jews,  and  in  giving  it  to  them  after  they  should  reform, 
or  renounce  Moses  and  the  law,  for  the  remission  of  their 
sins,  and  receive  Jesus  Christ  and  the  gospel  by  faith, 
and  he  baptized  into  the  remission  of  sin  in  the  name  or 
on  account  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Spirit  being  bestowed 
upon  them  after  these  things,  sealed  and  confirmed  the 
truth  that  the  old  Jewish  covenant  and  laws,  on  which 
they  had  relied  for  salvation  were  abolished,  and  that  no 
reliance  could  be  placed  upon  ihem,  as  the  Jews  had 
done  for  remission  of  sin;  and  that  remission  and  salva- 
tion were  to  be  found  in  Jesus  Christ  alone,  who  God 
had  made  both  Lord  and  Christ;  and  that  baptism  was  an 
ordinance  of  divine  appointment,  by  which  Judaism  was 
renounced,  and  Christ  and  his  religion  and  salvation  were 
professed.  The  record  of  these  things  will  prove  the  same 
to  all  succeeding  generations  if  properly  understood. 

The  Law  of  Moses  had  been  published  by  the  direct 
authority  of  God  himself,  manifested  by  the  most  stupen- 
dous miracles,  and  the  covenant  into  which  the  Jewish 
nation  entered  with  Jehovah,  having  been  confirmed  and 
sealed  by  the  same,  as  his  distinct  and  peculiar  people, 
nothing  short  of  miraculous  and  supernatural  testimony, 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT.  231 

given  by  the  same  Jehovah,  could  convince  them  that 
the  Jewish  economy  had  terminated  by  divine  appoint- 
ment, and  that  the  gospel  was  established  as  the  only  re- 
ligion. This  proved  that  Jesus  Christ  is  indeed  Messiah, 
and  the  only  Saviour,  of  whom  Moses  and  the  Prophets 
did  write;  and  that  they  that  believe  in  him,  possess  the 
divine  favour.  The  Jews  had  once  been  baptized  into 
Moses,  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea ;  they  are  now  to  be 
baptized  into  Christ  in  water,  and  to  put  him  on.  They 
were  buried  with  Christ  by  baptism  into  death,  having 
died  to  sin  by  faith  in  his  cross. 

The  Jews,  who  attended  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  out  of 
every  nation  under  heaven,  and  who  were  converted  on 
that  day  to  the  christian  religion  and  at  other  times  be- 
fore they  returned  ,to  their  own  country,  and  possessing 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  v/hich  was  a  proof  and  con- 
firmation of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  when  they  returned 
and  preached  the  gospel  to  their  own  countrymen,  con- 
firmed it  with  signs  following,  as  Christ  promised  and  as 
Mark  has  recorded  it.  Mark  xvi,  14-20.  The  Spirit 
was  also  poured  out  upon  the  Samaritans,  after  they  be- 
lieved and  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  in  answer  to 
the  prayers,  and  under  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  Pe- 
ter and  John.  Acts  viii,  15,  17.  This  proved  to  them  and 
to  the  Jews,  that  God  had  made  no  difference  between  tliem, 
and  that  under  the  new  covenant  they  were  included  in. 
one  fellov/ship,  and  that  there  was  no  difference  between 
them  under  the  gospel.  This  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
also  confirmed  the  divine  mission  of  Philip  and  the 
Apostles,  and  the  truth  of  all  that  they  said  and  did. 

The  Spirit  was  also  poured  out  upon  the  Gentiles,  but 
not  in  the  order  of  time  and  events  that  it  was  on  the 
three  thousand  Pentecostal  Jews,  and  on  the  Samaritans. 
These  last  had  to  renounce  their  former  divinely  establish- 


23?  THE    HOLY    SPIRIT. 

ed  institutions,  on  which  they  had  relied  for  remission  of 
sin  and  salvation;  whereas,  the  Gentiles  had  not  been 
placed  by  God,  under  any  system  for  remission  of  sin 
and  salvation,  and  they  had  none  to  renounce  as  of  di- 
vine anthority.  Accordingly,  when  Peter  preached  to 
the  Gentiles  in  the  houfe  of  Cornelius,  after  they  be- 
lieved, and  before  they  did  any  thing  else,  the  Holy  Ghost 
fell  upon  them  as  he  did  upon  the  Apostles  themselves, 
and  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  disciples  at  the  begin- 
ning. "While  Peter  was  yet  speaking  these  words,"  (ai^ 
ter  what  he  had  spoken  before,)  or  just  as  he  had  con- 
cluded speaking  them,  by  saying,  "to  him  (Christ)  gave 
all  the  Prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name,  whoso- 
soever  believeth  in  him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins," 
the  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon  all  them  that  heard  and  believed 
the  word.  They  spake  with  tongues  and  glorified  God, 
as  Christ  had  promised.     Mark  xvi,  17:  Acts  x,  44-46. 

Peter,  in  the  next  chapter,  calls  this  out-pouring  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  which  Christ  had  spoken. 
Acts  xi,  15-17.  After  that  they  believed  they  were 
sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which  was  an 
earnest  of  their  inheritance  before  they  were  baptised  in 
water.  In  the  case  of  the  Gentiles,  there  was  no  imposi- 
tion of  Apostolic  hands  after  or  before  baptism,  nor  pray- 
ers employed,  as  there  had  been  in  the  case  of  the  Sa-' 
maritans  in  imparting  spiritual  gifty,  in  confirming  their 
faith.  They  were  confirmed  and  sealed  hy  Christ  himself 
as  the  Apostles  had  been.  Episcopal  Bishops  would  do 
well  to  think  of  this  when  they  labor  among  the  Gentiles. 
Christ  himself  was  the  Diocesan  Bishop  and  Administra- 
tor, and  by  confirming  and  scaling  the  salvation  of 
these  Gentiles,  the  moment  that  they  believed  before  they 
were  baptised  in  water,  he  seals  and  confirms  the  salva- 
tion of  all  true  believers,  without  any  regard  to   water 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT. 


28^ 


baptism  or  the  imposition  of  hands ;  although  it  is  their  duty 
to  be  baptised  after  they  believe.  This  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  Peter,  the  Apostle,  said  was  God's  witness 
or  testimony,  who  knew  the  heart,  that  He  had  put  no  dif^ 
ference  between  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles,  having  puri- 
fied the  heart  of  the  Gentiles  without  water  baptism,  by 
faith.  Acts  xv,  7-9.  The  obedience  required  of  these 
Gentiles,  in  order  to  their  receiving  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
faith  alone.  And  God  gave  to  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  his 
witness,  v.'hen  they  obeyed  him  by  believing  in  Jesus 
Christ,  that  he  had  purified  their  hearts.  Acts  v,  32 :  xv,  9. 

The  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist  also  received  the 
Holy  Ghost,  after  they  were  baptized  into  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus. 

The  out-pouring,  gifts  and  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
bestowed  upon  males  and  females,  and  upon  some  of  al! 
sorts  and  conditions  among  the  Jews  and  Samaritans, 
and  the  Gentiles,  who  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  were 
God's  testimony,  that  Jesus  Christ,  through  his  expiatory 
sufferings  and  death,  and  sacrificial  offering,  is  Lord  of 
all,  and  is  constituted  Prince  and  Saviour,  and  is  head 
over  all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body.  They 
prove,  also,  that  the  gracious  provisions  of  the  new  cove- 
nant, embrace  in  one  fellowship  all  true  believers  among 
Jews,  Samaritans,  and  Gentiles,  male  and  female,  bond 
and  free;  ''for  by  one  Spirit  they  were  all  baptized  into 
one  body  or  church,  whether  they  be  Jews  or  Gentiles, 
bond  or  free,  and  were  all  made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit." 
1  Cor.  xii,  13.  They  moreover  prove,  seal  and  confirm 
the  fact,  that  water  baptism  has  nothing  to  do,  in  the  sight 
of  God,  with  the  actual  remission  of  the  sins  of  the  un- 
godly, by  which  they  are  taken  into  the  divine  favour, 
but  that  he  purifies  their  hearts  by  faith  before  they  are 
baptised,  and  that  baptism  is  the  answer  of  a  good  con- 
science tov^^ards  God, 


^34  THE    HOLY    SPIRIT. 

On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  Peter  said  to  the  multitude^ 
"  this  which  ye  nom  see  and  hear^  is  that  which  was  spo* 
ken  by  Joel  the  prophet,"  it  is  the  accomplishment  or  ful* 
filment  of  it;  or,  as  Mr.  Henry  says,  "  this  is  that  effusion 
of  the  Spirit  upon  all  flesh  which  should  come,  and  we  are 
to  look  for  lio  other,  no  more  than  we  are  to  look  for  an- 
other Messiah.  This  Spirit  will,  according  to  the  same 
promise  continue  in  the  cliurch,  and  work  all  its  works  in 
it  hy  the  means  of  the  scriptures  and  the  ministry.^'' 

Whatever  the  Spirit  may  do  by  means  of  the  scriptures 
and  the  ministry,  he  will  reveal  nothing  new,  nor  add 
any  thing  new  to  the  scriptures  —  he  will  give  no  new 
sense  or  meaning  to  the  words  he  spoke  and  wrote  by 
the  Evangelists  and  Apostles.  The  sense  and  meaning 
now  are  the  same  that  he  gave  to  the  words  and  sentences, 
when  they  were  first  revealed,  and  they  will  continue  the 
same.  It  is  the  thought,  or  the  sum  of  the  thoughts,  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  expressed  by  his  v/ords.  They  all  have 
relation  to  Jesus  Christ.  "He  shall  glorify  me,  said 
Christ,-  all  things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine,  there- 
fore, said  1,  that  he  slirtll  take  of  mine  and  shall  show  it 
unto  you."  John  xvi,  12-16.  This  word  is  as  compe- 
tent to  convert  sinners  now,  as  it  ever  has  been;  but  it 
can  convert  no  person  without  being  in  some  degree  un- 
derstood and  believed.  It  possesses,  in  its  proper  sense 
and  meaning,  a  divine,  gracious  character,  and  is  the  me- 
dium through  which  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
Gommunicate  his  spiritual,  gracious,  moral  light  and 
influence,  to  the  understanding  and  hearts  of  men. 

The  out-pourings  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  gifts  he  bestow- 
ed, and  his  revelations,  not  only  revealed  the  word  of  God 
by  which  the  things  of  God  are  made  known  in  the  gos- 
pel, but  they  sealed  and  confirmed  the  truth  of  all  that 
the  Prophets  and  Christ  had  said  relative  to  himself  and 


THE   HOLY    SPIRIT.  235 

his  religion.  They  also  sealed  and  confirmed  the  divine 
mission  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  truth  of  all  that  they 
taught,  in  reference  to  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  atonement;  and  all  that  relates  to 
the  new  covenant,  and  to  the  doctrines,  ordinances  and 
duties  of  the  gospel. 

The  miraculous  gifts  were  called  the  seal  of  the  Spirit, 
in  reference  to  the  ancient  use  of  seals  to  authenticate 
writings  of  importance,  both  in  private  and  public  trans- 
actions. Jerem  xxxii,  6-14:  1  Kings  xxi,  8.  In  allusion 
to  this  custom  of  authenticating  writings  by  a  seal,  what- 
ever may  be  said  to  justify  a  claim  to  any  particular  priv- 
ilege, commission  or  authority,  or  to  afford  evidence  and 
confirmation  of  any  thing  that  has  already  take/i  place, 
or  of  a  promise  which  is  hereafter  to  take  effect,  is  by 
an  easy  figure  called  a  seal,  as  in  the  following  cases, 
which  relate  to  the  gifts   or  sealing  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

1  Cor.  ix,  2:    Eph.  i,  13,  14:    John  vi,  27:     Eph.  iv,  30: 

2  Cor.  i,  22. 

As  the  visible  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  pow- 
ers which  were  conveyed  upon  the  first  christians,  Jews 
and  Gentiles,  made  the  proper  seal  of  the  divine  truth  of 
the  christian  doctrines,  and  of  their  personal  interest 
in  the  divine  favour,  so  the  power  of  imparting  these  ex- 
traordinary gifts  in  certain  due  proportions  to  other  chris- 
tians, that  is,  to  those  who  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  was 
the  seal  of  the  Apostlic  office  and  authority.  The  gifts 
possessed  by  the  Apostles  and  the  power  of  imparting 
them,  conferred  upon  them  the  character  of  infallibility 
in  what  they  spoke  and  wrote  of  the  christian  religion, 
and  sealed  it  as  the  word  of  God.  These  ceased  with 
the  Apostles,  as  did  the  Apostolic  office  and  authority. 

As  a  seal  affixed  to  a  declaratory  deed  is  a  sensible 
mark  and  token  of  the  internal  purpose,  and  invisible  res- 


236  THE    HOLY    SPIRIT. 

olutions  of  the  human  mind,  and  is  an  evidence  of  the 
right  and  title  of  those  who  justly  claim  under  it;  so  the 
sensible,  miraculous  and  supernatural  operations  of  the 
divine  Spirit,  connected  with  the  Vvord  of  God  in  the  gos- 
pel, which  he  revealed  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  were 
the  sensible  mark  and  token  of  the  purpose  and  will  of 
God,  for  the  salvation  of  mankind,  in  the  gospel  or  cove- 
nant of  the  Spirit.  The  sensible  mark  and  token  of  tho 
divine  purpose  and  will  in  the  remission  of  sin,  is,  that 
God  remits  sin  and  purifies  the  heart  by  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  believer  to  be  baptized 
into  him.  These  things,  were  sealed  by  the  sensible, 
miraculous  gifts  of  the  Spirit.  And  we  now  look  for  the 
evidence  of  a  sealed  interest  in  God's  favour  and  salva- 
tion under  the  new  covenant  in  the  gospel,  which  is  our 
sealed  title  paper,  in  the  integrity  of  our  faith,  or  in  its 
correspondence  with  the  word,  and  in  the  piety  of  our 
lives,  which  exhibit  the  fi'uits  of  the  Spirit. 

The  only  hope  that  a  christian  has  of  eternal  life, 
rests  on  the  divine  authority  of  the  Apostles  and  Evan- 
gelists to  preach  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  faith 
and  salvation  of  sinners,  and  upon  the  divine  truth  of  the 
gospel  record.  The  Lord  confirmed  their  word  with  signs 
following.  The  Holy  Ghost  sealed  all  that  they  said  and 
did  as  of  divine  authority  and  truth,  as  he  has  done  the 
record.  These  gifts  of  the  Spirit  ceased  when  the  re- 
cord was  completed,  and  they  have  not  been  repeated. 
Were  they  now  to  be  possessed  by  any  class  of  men  as 
they  were  by  the  Apostles,  they  would  unseal  and  nullify 
the  gospel  covenant,  as  they  did,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
gospel,  the  old  Jewish  covenant. 

One  of  the  greatest  corruptions  that  has  ever  infested 
the  christian  religion,  has  arisen  from  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic priesthood,  arrogating  to  themselves  Apostolic  sue- 


THE   HOLY   SPIRIT.  237 

cession  and  authority.  They  have  no  shadow  of  right 
to  claim  Apostolic  power  and  privilege  without  show- 
ing Apostolic  credentials.  Were  they  able  to  show  such 
credentials,  they  would  subvert  the  whole  authority 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  their  own  authority  too,  as  de- 
rived from  Peter;  for  they  would,  with  their  new  Apostol- 
ic credentials,  set  aside  the  gospel  that  Peter  preached, 
and  overturn  Peter  himself,  and  introduce  a  new  dispensa- 
tion as  Peter  did.     Such  is  the   naiure  of  Popery! 

The  following  were  Apostolic  qualijications.  It  was 
essential  to  the  Apostles  of  the  New  Testament,  that  they 
should  have  seen  the  Lord,  and  have  been  eye  witnesses 
of  what  they  testified  to  the  world.  1  Cor.  xii,  28,  29: 
Eph.  iv,  11.  .  This  was  laid  down  as  an  essential  requis- 
ite in  the  choice  of  one  to  succeed  Judas.  Acts  i,  21,  22. 
All  of  them  could  say,  ''  That  which  we  have  seen  and 
heard,  declare  we  unto  you,  that  ye  may  also  have  fel- 
lowship with  us;  and  truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the  Fa- 
ther and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ."  1  John  i,  3.  Paul 
was  no  exception  here,  for  speaking  of  those  who  saw 
Christ  after  his  resurrection,  he  adds,  "  And  last  of  all 
he  was  seen  of  me."  1  Cor.  xv,  8.  And  this  he  also 
mentions  as  one  of  the  Apostolic  qualifications.  "Am  I 
not  an  Apostle? "  So  that  seeing  that  just  one,  and  hear- 
ing the  voice  of  his  mouth,  were  necessary  to  his  being 
a  witness  of  what  he  thus  saw  and  heard.  Acts  xxii,  6- 
15:  Gal.  i,  12. 

Infallible  inspiration  was  also  essentially  necessary  to 
the  Apostolic  office.  John  xvi,  13:  1  Cor.  ii,  10:  Gal. 
i,  12. 

They  had  not  only  to  explain  the  true  sense  and  spirit 
of  the  Old  Testament,  which  was  hid  from  the  Jewish 
doctors,  but  also  to  give  forth  the  New  Testament  reve- 
lation to  the  world,  which  was  to  be  the  unalterable  stand- 
21 


238  THE   HOLY    SPIRIT, 

ard,  as  it  was  to  be  the  means  of  faith  and  the  law  of 
life,  through  all  succeeding  generations.  Luke  xxiv,  27: 
Acts  XXV  i,  22,23:  ch.  xxviii,  23:  1  Pet.  i,  25:  IJohniv, 
6.  It  was  therefore  absokitely  necessary  that  they  should 
be  secured  against  all  error  and  mistake,  by  the  unerring 
dictates  of  the  spirit  of  truth.  John  xiv,  26:  ch.  xvi,  13: 
1  Thes.  ii,  13:  IJohn  iv  6. 

Another  Apostolic  qualification  was  the  power  of  work- 
ing miracles  and  conferring  the  gifts  upon  others.  1  Cor. 
xii,  8-11.  These  were  the  credentials  of  the  Apostolic 
mission.  2  Cor.  xii,  12.  To  these  qualifications  may 
be  added  the  universality  of  their  mission.  They  had 
power  as  the  oracles  of  God  to  men,  to  superintend  and 
govern  all  churches.  2  Cor.  xi,  28.  They  had  power 
also  to  settle  their  faith  and  order,  as  models  of  future 
ages;  and  to  determine  all  controversies;  Acts  xvi,  4; 
and  to  exercise  the  rod  of  discipline  upon  all  ofTenders, 
whether  pastors  or  flocks.  1  Cor.  v,  3-6:  2  Cor.  x,  8: 
ch.  xiiij  10. 

These  Apostles,  T  repeat,  have  had  no  successors.  I 
desire  not  to  be  uncharitable  or  censorious,  but  cannot 
refuse  to  express  my  astonishment  that  in  these  United 
States,  Protestant  Episcopalians  are  found,  who  deny  to 
other  ministers  of  the  Gospel  the  right  to  preach  and 
administer  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel,  and  who  refuse 
to  unite  with  them  in  the  worship  of  God,  on  account  of 
their  supposed  exclusive  apostolic  authority;  their  preten- 
sions are  more  extravagant  than  arc  those  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Episcopalians  of  Great  Britain  under  their  religious 
establishment. 

The  editors  of  the  Christian  Observer,  one  of  the  most 
talented  and  evsngclical  periodicals  in  the  world,  edited 
by  Episcopalians  in  London,  in  ihcir  notice  of  a  publica- 
tion of  Bishop  Ilobart,  of  New  York,  justify  this  observa- 


THE   HOLY   SPIRIT.  239 

tion.     They  observe  that  Bishop  Hobart,  who  was  a  high 
church-man,    I    svppose ,    "was    quite    sincere    in    his 
opinion  respecting  the  evil  tendency  of  the  Bible  Society; 
and  particularly  on  account  of  the  union  in  it  of  church- 
men and  dissenter?,  for  our  American  Episcopalian  breth- 
ren, though  but  a  small  portion  of  the  population  of  their 
country,  and  wholly  unconnected  with  the  State,  speak  of 
all  non-Episcopalians  as  "dissenters."     With  us  in  En- 
gland, the  term  is  neither  harsh  nor  inappropriate;  for  it 
means  only  "non-conformists"  as  respects  the  established 
church;  but  what  it  means  in  the  United  States,  we  can- 
not so  clearly  understand;  and  the  use  of  it  appears   ex- 
ceptionable, because  it  seems   to  imply  a  spirit,  which 
would  exclude  from  the  visible  pp^le  of  Christ's  church,  all 
who  do  not  adopt  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of  a  very 
small,  though  highly  respectable  minority  of  trans-Atlan- 
tic Christians.     We  could  wish,  therefore,  that  our  Amer- 
ican Episcopalian  friends  would  avoid  this  term,  which,  in 
their  lips  either  means  nothing  whatever,  or  means  some- 
thing, which  with  all  our  veneration  for  Episcopacy — ^^and 
we  are  far  from  intending  to  underrate  the  importance  of 
our  own  truly  apostolical  code,  either  doctrinal  or  "  reo"i- 
mental"  —  is,  we  think,  too  sectarian  and  bigoted  to  find 
a  place   in   any  candid   and   impartial   bosom.     Let  the 
church  of  Rome  call  other  churches  heretical  and  schis- 
matical,  if  it  pleases,  but  let  not  Protestants  follow  its  evil 
example.  "     Christ.  Obs.  vol.  xxvi,  p.  618. 

As  the  Apostles  published  and  settled  the  Christian 
faith,  an  argument  for  the  apostolic  office,  in  subsequent 
ages,  is  sometimes  derived  from  the  supposed  necessity 
there  is  for  Apostles  to  explain  the  apostolic  writings,  and 
to  preserve  the  faith.  The  Roman  Catholic  successors  of 
the  Apostles  have  explained  away,  or  corrupted  many  of 
the  essential  doctrines  and  duties  ol  the  Gospel,  and  have 


240  THE   HOLY   SPIRIT. 

ordained  rites  and  ceremonies,  which  are  not  found  in  the 
New  Testament,  undertheir  pretended  Apostolic  authority. 
If  they,  or  Protestant  Episcopalians,  possess  by  divine 
appointment  apostolic  authority  and  power,  they  doubtless 
possess  apostolic  qualifications;  if  so,  they  have  a  divine 
right  to  do  whatever  they  please,  and  the  world  is  bound 
to  obey  them.  They  are  infallibly  secured  against  all 
error  in  speaking  and  writing,  by  the  unerring  dictates 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  These  things,  however,  they  must 
prove  by  doing  the  works  of  Apostles,  before  they  can 
justly  claim  that  authority. 

The  revelations  written  by  the  Evangelists  and  Apos- 
tles, which  compose  the  New  Testament  record,  are  the 
explanations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  himself  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament—  and  they  explain  fully  the  things  which  Christ 
taught  his  disciples  obscurely  before  his  death,  and  make 
known  the  "  many  things  "  that  he  had  to  tell  them,  which 
they  could  not  bear  before  his  death  and  glorification. 
Where  now,  I  ask,  in  the  whole  book  of  God,  is  it  promised 
that  the  Spirit  shall,  by  another  revelation,  other  than  the 
one  he  made  to  the  Apostles,  and  which  is  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament,  explain  the  explanations  he  gave  to  the 
Apostles,  in  order  that  men  shall  understand  and  believe 
the  word  of  God?  Were  such  explanations  to  be  really 
made  by  the  Spirit,  they  would  be  as  justly  entitled  to  a 
place  in  the  New  Testament  as  the  word  of  God,  as  any 
thing  therein  contained  is.  But  to  what  sect  or  party  of 
Christians  have  these  new  explanatory  revelations  of  the 
Spirit  been  made,  by  which  the  revelations  and  explana- 
tions he  made  to  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists,  agreeably 
to  Christ's  promise  to  them,  have  been  explained?  Or, 
does  he  make  a  different  explanation  to  each  different 
sect,  suited  to  its  creed  and  party  vie-vs  and  peculiarities, 
of  what  he  revealed  and  explained  to  the  Apostles?  If  be 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT.  5i41 

does,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  party  spirit!  This  is  not  true. 
If  the  Spirit  makes  new  explanations  by  immediate  opcr 
ations  and  revelations  of  what  he  revealed  to  them,  he 
must  do  it  by  the  use  of  words:  are  these  words  more  in- 
telligible and  plain  than  are  the  words  by  which  he  re- 
vealed the  things  of  God  to  the  Apostles,  which  are  re- 
corded as  the  word  of  God,  or  have  they  a  different  mean- 
ing from  their  words?  What  are  the  words  by  which  he 
explains  them?  Are  they  Chaldee,  Hebrew,  Greek,  or 
English  words?  Do  not  these  last  explanations  require 
still  other  explanations  of  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  be 
understood?  In  this  way  the  enquiry  might  run  on  and 
be  endless,  and  it  might  be  demanded  that  each  of  the 
subsequent  explanations  of  the  Spirit,  be  sealed  and  con- 
firmed  by  the  miraculous  gifrs  of  the  Spirit,  in  proof  that 
they  are  the  revelations  of  God,  as  were  the  apostolic  rev- 
elations. These  absurdities  are  the  consequence  of  de- 
nying to  the  word  of  God  a  sense  and  meaning  which  God 
gave  to  it  when  he  first  revealed  it,  and  which  is  perma- 
nently and  infillibly  the  same;  and  of  denying  to  the  hu- 
man mind  powers  and  susceptibilities  which  God  gave  to 
to  it,  and  which  it  did  not  lo;5e  by  the  fall,  and  which  he 
sustains  by  his  immediate  power,  for  learning  and  under- 
standing the  truth  of  his  word,  and  for  believing  and  feel- 
ing it  by  the  due  exercise  of  them  under  tiie  direction  and 
influence  of  suitable  instruction  and  cultivation.  These 
are  the  reasons,  too,  why  the  scriptures  are  so  little  read, 
understood,  and  confidently  and  practically  believed  in  as 
the  word  of  God. 

The  word  of  God  is  the  same  that  it  ever  has  been 
since  it  was  revealed,  and  its  meaning  must  be  learnt 
and  derived  from  its  grtunmatical  and  historical  sense  and 
meaning.  The  human  mind  is  the  same  in  its  original 
powers  and  susceptibilities,  that  it  ever  has  been  since  tbs 
20* 


242  THE   HOLY    SPIRIT. 

fall.  And  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  are  the  same, 
and  employ  the  same  spiritual  means  of  instruction,  in- 
fluence and  agency,  in  advancing  the  Christian  religion 
in  the  human  mind,  that  they  have  done,  since  it  was 
established.  They  promote  the  same  great  objects;  they 
glorify  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord  of  all  in  the  scheme  of  sal- 
vation, and  convert  sinners  by  the  Gospel,  and  produce  a 
oneness  in  faith  and  heart  in  all  those  who  believe  in  Je- 
sus Christ,  through  the  word  of  the  Apostles.  John  xvii, 
21.  Every  thing  that  is  done  that  is  inconsistent  with 
these  things  in  religion,  they  do  not  do,  nor  approve  of. 
God  has  given  to  the  mind  a  constitution,  which  renders  it 
capable  of  receiving  impressions  from  his  word,  and  of  in- 
vestigating its  sense  and  meaning,  and  of  understanding 
and  feeling  its  truth  under  his  immediate  sustaining  imw- 
er;  and  by  the  operation  and  inl^iucnces  of  his  word,  it  is  ca- 
pable of  existing  in  all  the  religious  states  which  form  the 
consciousness  of  the  Christian  life.  In  the  order  and  ar- 
rangement of  the  divine  economy,  under  the  reign  and 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  God  has  ordained  certain  spir- 
itual means  for  the  improvement  of  the  spiritual  powers 
and  capabilities  of  man,  which  bear  the  impress  of  his 
mercy  and  grace.  Pardon  of  sin,  and  the  divine  influence, 
are  communicated  to  the  soul  through  belief  and  confi- 
dence in  Jesus  Christ.  In  this  divine  order  and  arrange- 
ment, God  has  decreed  that  man  must  act  as  a  moral  being 
to  gain  and  possess  these  blessings  —  God  is  as  much  en- 
gaged to  sustain  this  order  of  things  in  religion,  according 
to  which  faith  is  obtained  by  hearing  his  word,  and  by 
searching  the  scriptures  and  understanding  them,  as  he  is 
in  sustaining  any  part  of  the  order  of  nature.  The  whole 
circle  of  moral  agency,  and  of  human  responsibility,  is 
based  upon  it,  as  is  the  whole  process  of  the  future  judg- 
ment.    All  this  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  fact,  that 


f 


THE   HOLY    SPIRIT.  ,  243 

without  Christ  we  can  do  nothing;  and  that  salvation,  from 
first  to  last,  is  wholly  of  grace,  and  is  the  gift  of  God. 
Christ  said,  "ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  scripture  nor  the 
power  of  God.  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them, 
they  would  not  have  had  sin  —  but  now  they  have  no  cloak 
for  their  sin.  "  The  exercises  in  which  God  requires  men 
to  be  engaged,  and  upon  which  he  suspends  the  communi- 
cation of  Gospel  truth  and  grace  to  the  heart,  and  which 
are  rational  services,  are  to  hear,  and  read  and  search  the 
scriptures,  and  to  believe  them;  to  meditate  upon  them  and 
the  things  they  reveal;  and  habitually  to  pray  to  God  for 
his  enlightening  influences  upon  the  heart,  and  to  practise 
all  the  duties  of  the  gospel,  and  to  train  and  discipline 
their  minds  in  the  spirit  and  temper  of  it. 

I  believe  with  Dr.  A.  Clarke,  that  God  withholds  the 
power  of  belief  from  no  person  who  suitably  uses  the 
means  which  he  has  ordained  to  produce  it,  or  by  which  he 
imparts  it.  They  may  be  slighted,  not  used,  or  misused, 
in  consequence  of  which  is  that  declaration  of  Jesus  Christ, 
"He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  and  he 
that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned.  "  The  Spirit  of  God 
is  every  where  present,  but  his  religion-giving  operation 
is  by  his  word  understood  and  believed,  and  is  exerted 
through  the  truth  upon  the  mind.  Were  these  things  to  be 
practically  believed  and  acted  on  by  Bible-class  teachers, 
and  by  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  by  Christian  pa- 
rents, and  Christians  in  general,  how  very  different  would 
be  the  state  and  progress  of  religion  in  our  world!  —  And 
how  very  different  would  be  Christianity  itself  in  the  know- 
ledge of  the  scriptures,  and  in  the  love  and  fellowship 
among  the  saints,  from  what  it  now  is ! 

Were  all  Christians  united  in  the  sentiment,  that  God 
has  predestinated  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace, 
who  works  ail  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will, 


244  THE   HOLY   SPIRIT. 

that  he  will  gather  the  world  together,  through  their  labors 
and  efforts  \n  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  Gospel,*  and  were  they 
all  to  act  practically  upon  it  in  union  and  harmony,  with 
a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  the  great  Redeemer,  in  impart- 
ing the  i-ense  and  meuning  of  the  Gospel,  to  the  minds  of 
men,  the  presentexertions  employed  in  lenrningand  talents, 
in  labor,  expense   and  prayer,    would  convert  the  whole 
world  in  thirty  years.      There  would  not  probably  be  one 
infidel  on  this  continent  at  the  end  of  five  years.     Every 
child  would  be  converted  by  the  time  it  would  be   six  or 
seven    years  old,    by  the    knowledge   and    belief  of  the 
truth  —  Christian  truth  and  affection  vvould  have  the  pre- 
eminence in  all  the  circles  and  conditions  of  society,  and 
would  manifest  themselves  in  activity  and  zeal  with  know- 
ledge and  godly  love.     Protracted  meetings  would  be  the 
occasion,  and  the  religious  instruction  and  prayerful  exer- 
tion, according  to  the  Gospel  of  God,  would  be  the  means 
of  converting  all  who  would  attend  them;  and,  substantial 
Christian  enjoyments  and  happiness  would  rise  to  an  im- 
measurable height  above  what  they  now  are.       The  faith 
and  confidence  wi;h  which   I  speak  these  things,  do  not 
exceed  the  faiihfulness,  love  and  power  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus,  to  accomplish  them.   **God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he 
gave  his  o.Jy  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him,  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  lite."     God  is 
altogether  on  the^ide  of  man's  salvation  and  happiness, 
but  man  must  acquiesce  and  go  along  with  him  in  the  plan 
and  in  the  use  of  the  means  he  has  ordained  for  achieving 
them.     Nothing  has  ever  been  d(!ne  since   his  plan  and 
means  were  fully  revealed  without  this.     Jesus  Christ  by 
the  Gmce  of  God  tnsted  death  for  every  man,  and  he  is 
now  the  Saviour  of  all  men,  but  especially  of  them  that 
believe.     "All  things  are  ready, saith  the  Amen,  the  faith- 
ful and  the  Iru  j  witness,  the  first  and  tho  last.     And  tha 


THE    HOLY    SPIRIT.  245 

Spirit  and  the  bride  say  come,  and  let  him  that  heareth 
say  come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come:  and  whoso- 
ever will,  let  him  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely."  The 
truth  of  these  things  is  sealed  and  confirmed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost. 


ESSAY    XIV. 


BAPTISM. 


Baptism  is  an  ordinance  of  the  New  Testament,  institu- 
ted by  Jesus  Christ,  by  which  a  believer  in  him  professes 
his  faith  and  puts  him  on.  The  action  is  immersion  into 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  ol'  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

The  commission  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature, 
given  to  the  Apostles  by  Jesus  Christ,  was  in  consequence 
of  all  power  having  been  given  to  him  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,  in  consequence  of  his  death;  and  the  command  to 
baptize  was  inseparably  connected  with  the  preaching  and 
believing  the  Gospel. 

John  preached  the  baptism  of  repentance,  and  baptized 
those  who  professed  their  willingness  to  reform  and  re- 
ceive the  Messiah,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  expect- 
ed shortly  to  conje,  and  were  willing  to  frame  their  lives 
in  a  manner  agreeably  to  that  expectation.  Luke  iii,  7- 
14.  John's  preaching  and  baptism  among  the  Jews,  were 
preparatory  to  their  receiving  hirn.  He  came  baptizing 
with  water  that  Jesus  Christ  might  be  made  manifest  to 
Israel,  which  was  effectually  done  in  a  miraculous  man- 
ner, when  he  baptized  him  in  Jordan,  Math,  iii,  13 — 17: 
Johni,  31-^4. 

As  baptism  is  an  ordimnce  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  is  as- 
associated  with  his  religion,  authority  and  kingdom,  and 
derives  all  its  meaning  and  use  from  him,  in  considering 


BAPTISM.  247 

its  design  and  use,  we  musf  keep  in  view  his  majesty  and 
glory,  tlie  nature  and  extent  of  liis  dominion  and  kingdom, 
and  the  spiritual  nature  of  his  religion  and  feubjects  as  dis- 
tinguished from  all  thing's  else. 

Jesus  Christ  came  as  the  light  and  deliverer  of  the 
world.  In  his  whole  teaching  he  discovered  a  conscious- 
ness that  never  forsook  him,  of  a  relation  that  he  sustain- 
ed to  the  whole  human  race.  He  came  as  the  author  of  a 
new,  miraculous.,  universal  religion,  based  upon  his  own 
death  and  resurrection,  which  was  the  most  magnificent 
that  ever  entered  into  the  mind  of  man.  No  other  man 
ever  thought  or  dreamed,  of  subjecting  all  nations  to  a 
common  faith,  in  peace  and  love. 

The  partition  wall  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  which 
seemed  to  reach  to  heaven,  was  to  be  broken  down.  The 
Jewish  state  was  to  be  abolished,  and  the  temple  prostrat- 
ed, and  the  idolatry  of  the  Gentile  world  was  to  be  extin- 
guished; and  upon  the  ruins  of  them  all,  were  to  be  erec- 
ted a  spiritual  religion  and  church,  in  which  all  men  would 
meet  as  brethren,  and  which  would  be  the  common  and 
equal  property  of  Jews  and  Gentiles. 

Jesus  Christ,  in  all  that  he  said  and  did,  previous  to  his 
crucifixion,  built  the  prospect  of  his  success  on  his  own 
death  and  resurrection,  and  the  glory  that  should  follow. 
He  uniformly  taught  his  disciples,  that  he  must  die  and  rise 
again  before  his  religion  and  his  own  character  could  be 
fully  revealed,  and  before  his  kingdom  could  be  erected  and 
understood.  An  essential  part  of  his  religion  and  reign, 
was  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  a  future  existence 
and  judgment,  based  upon  his  ov/n  resurrection  and  pow- 
er. The  natural  world,  under  God's  sentence  of  death 
for  sin,  contained  no  provisions  or  principles  for  reviving 
the  dead.  The  sun  and  the  rain  which  cover  the  tomb 
with  verdure,  send  no  vital  influence   to  the  mouldering 


248  BAPTISM, 

body.  If  man  is  to  live  again,  he  is  not  to  live  through 
any  known  laws  or  powers  of  nature,  nor  by  any  union 
with  the  first  sinful  mortal  man,  but  by  a  power  alto- 
gether supernatural,  and  by  a  union  with  the  second  Adam, 
who  is  the  Lord  from  heaven,  and  is  the  resurrection  and 
the  life.  Of  this  he  would  be  ignorant  unless  informed  and 
assured  of  it  by  supernatural  revelation  and  miraculous 
works.  Christ  was  to  ascend  his  throne  through  his  own 
death,  by  which  he  v/as  to  abolish  death,  and  enter  into 
the  holiest  by  his  own  blood,  which  was  shed  for  the  re- 
mission of  sin.  And  when  exalted  as  Lord  of  all,  and 
seated  as  King  upon  Jehovah's  holy  hill  of  zion,  the  hea- 
then were  to  be  given  to  him  for  his  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession ;  they  were 
all  to  be  made  one  in  him.  The  Gospel  was  to  be  the 
moral  instrument  of  his  great  spiritual  power,  bv  which 
the  world  was  to  be  subdued  to  the  obedience  of  faith  un- 
der him. 

All  nations  and  people  were  to  cast  off  the  ferocity  of 
their  nature,  to  be  renewed  in  the  image  of  God,  and  be- 
come one  in  him.  The  self-righteous  Pharisee,  the  hated 
Samaritan,  and  despised  publican,  and  far-off  idolatrous 
Gentile,  were  to  be  brought  into  one  fellowship.  They 
were  to  compose  one  body  or  church  under  him,  who  is 
the  head  of  the  church,  in  whom  dwells  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily.  Their  enmity  was  to  be  destroyed  by 
his  cross  through  his  death.  And  there  was  to.  be  one  bap- 
tism, by  which  all  were  to  be  brought  into  one  visible  fel- 
lowship. 

To  accomplish  these  things,  after  he  rose  from  the  dead, 
and  before  he  ascended  into  heaven  and  took  possession 
of  his  deserved  throne,  he  said  unto  his  Apostles,  "Thus 
it  is  written  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to 
rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day :  Aad  that  repentance 


3APTI3M>  "249 

sind  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name, 
among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem,"  and  then  gave 
them  their  commission,  in  the  following  words,  "All  power 
is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth:  Go  ye,  therefore, 
and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you,  and  lo  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world,"     Luke  xxiv,  43,  47:  Matth.  xxviii,  18-20. 

The  commission  given  to  the'  Apostles  to  preach  and 
baptize,  recorded  by  Matthew,  contains  the  only  form  of 
words  to  be  used  in  baptism.  Mark  has  left  it  to  Mat- 
thew to  inform  us  into  ichom  or  into  what  the  Apostles 
were  to  baptize  those  who  believed.  These  words  in 
Matthew,  in  their  full  sense  and  meaning,  comprehend  all 
that  is  said  in  every  other  part  in  the  New  Testament, 
relative  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  as  administered  by 
the  Apostles  under  the  commission  that  Christ  gave  to 
them.  The  record  of  Matthev/  plainly  indicates  the  'ir/i- 
ty  and  agency  of  the  Fathsr,  and  the  Son,  and  liie  Holy 
Ghost,  as  I  have  shown  in  a  former  Essay,  in  the  author- 
ity of  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  religion  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  faith  and  salvation  of  every  true  believer.  Therefore, 
whatever  else  may  be  included  in  baptism,  those  who  be- 
lieve the  gospel  and  are  baptized  with  scriptural  views  of 
it,  are  baptized  into  the  faith  that  the  Father,  and  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  unitedly  concerned  in  the 
supremacy  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  his  Mediatorial  office  and 
reign,  and  in  the  religion  and  salvation  of  the  gospel. 

Dr.  Dwight,  on  Matth.  xxviii  19,  observes,  that  "Per- 
sons are  baptized  not  in  but  [eis)  into  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  that  is, 
by  Christ's  appointment  they  are  introduced  into  his  fami 
ly,  and  take  his  name  upon  them  as  being  his  children.'* 
22 


860  AAPTieif. 

Another  Greek  scholar  gives  it,  "baptizing  them  (net  iW 
but)  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit;  that  is,  introducing  them  into  the  profes- 
sion of  that  manifestation  of  the  divine  character,  (foy 
that  is  the  meaning  of  name  here,)  in  which  God  reveals 
himself  the  Restorer  of  fallen  man,  through  the  atone- 
ment and  mediation  of  the  Son,  and  the  influences  and 
quickening  of  the  Spirit." 

I  formerly  stated  and  endeavoured  to  prove,  that  with- 
out the  revelation  of  God,  in  the  personal  manifestations 
of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the 
fallen  state  of  man,  there  is  no  idea  or  knowledge  of 
God  in  the  world,  and  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  their  practical  de- 
velopment, operation  and  influence,  are  the  christian  re- 
ligion. 

Mark,  in  his  account  of  the  commlssicn  given  by  Je- 
sus Christ  to  the  Apostles  to  preach  and  baptize,  informs 
us  that  Christ  said  unto  them,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  pi'^ach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.     He  that  be- 
lieveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  and  he  that  believ- 
eth  not  shall  be  damned.     And  these  signs  shall  follow 
them  that  believe:  -n  my  name  they  shall  cast  out  devils; 
tljey  shall  speak  with  new  tongues,"  &lc.;  and  he  subjoins, 
"and  they  went  forth    and  preached  everywhere,    the 
Lord  working  with  them  and  confirming  the  word  with 
signs  following."  Mark  xvi,  15-20.     Mark  does  not  inform 
us  into  what  they  are  to  be  baptized,  or  whether  Christ  in 
this  place  meant  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he 
was  to  administer,  or  baptism  in  water:  perhaps  he  meant 
both.    The  signs  which  he  promised  should  follow,  were 
the  direct  effects  of  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in 
every   case,  and  confirmed  the  word  of  the  Apostles,  ai 
we  have  seen  in  the  last  Essay.     Simon  Magus  was  not 
ap  lized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  was  not  saved. 


^BAPTISM.  251 

The  Apostles  began  to  preach  at  Jerusalem  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  after  they  received  power  from  on  high. 
The  introduction  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  the  first 
discourse  delivered,  vv^e  have  an  account  of  in  the  second 
<:hapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Peter  by  referring 
to  the  ancient  prophets,  and  by  what  was  exhibited  to  the 
eyes  and  ears  of  the  spectators  and  auditors,  proved  that 
Messiah  had  come,  that  the  men  of  Judea  and  Jerusalem, 
whQ  heard  him,  had  with  wicked  hands  crucified  him,  and 
that  God  had  raised  him  up  from  the  dead,  and  made  him 
both  Lord  and  Christ;  and  that  the  great  and  dreadful 
day  of  the  Lord  was  at  hand,  which  God  had  foretold  by 
the  prophets  should  come,  and  which  would  destroy  the 
Jewish  state  and  nation.  A  number  of  them  "  were  prick- 
ed in  their  hearts  and  said  unto  Peter,  and  to  the  rest  of 
the  Apostles,  J\Ien  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do? 
Then  Peter  said  unto  them.  Repent  and  be  baptized 
every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  into  Ih© 
remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  For  the  promise  is  unto  you  and  your  chil- 
dren, and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the 
Lord  our  God  shall  call.  And  with  many  other  words 
did  he  testify  and  exhort,  saying.  Save  yourselves  from 
this  untoward  generation.  Then  they  that  gladly  re- 
ceived the  v/ord  were  baptized."     Acts  ii,  37-41. 

I  have  given  verse  38  into  the  remission  of  sins,  in- 
stead of  for  or  in  order  to  the  remission  of  sins,  as  Dr. 
Doddridge  and  others  have  given  it,  because  the  meaning 
of  into  and  for  or  in  order  to,  in  this  place  is  essentially 
difTerent,  and  because  the  same  word  eis  is  rendered  into 
in  every  other  place  in  the  New  Testament  where  it 
•fitands  in  the  same  connection  with  the  gospel  ordinance 
of  baptism. 

ThQ  iustru.ctioji  and  esJioitations  of  Peler  to  these  Jew« 


252  BAPTISM. 

to  reform  or  change  their  minds  and  be  baptized  into  the 
remission  of  sin  on  account  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  the 
same  as  to  be  baptized  into  his  salvation,  agrees  in  my 
apprehension  with  the  direction  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the 
Apostles,  to  baptize  believers,  into  the  name  of  the  Father^ 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  From  our  com- 
mon version,  it  would  seem,  that  Peter  intended  the  Pen- 
tecostal Jews  to  be  baptized  in  order  to  obtain  the  remis- 
sion of  their  sins,  and  many  so  regard  it.  This  rendering 
seems  to  have  originated  at  a  period  soon  after  the  Apos- 
tolic age,  from  a  belief  that  water  in  John  iii?  5,  meant 
baptismal  water,  and  wiiich  rendered  baptism  absolutely 
necessary  to  salvation.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  early 
Fathers  speak  of  baptism  as  of  the  same  meaning  with 
regeneration.  Tcrtullian,  who  lived  about  two  hundred 
years  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  said  that  John  iii,  5,  "  ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  related  primarily  to 
baptism,  and  made  it  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation; 
"  What,  said  he,  can  be  more  miraculous  than  to  see  that 
by  washing  the  body  by  external  baptism,  we  efface  at 
the  same  time  the  mortal  stain  of  the  soul,  and  when  that 
stain  is  once  taken  away,  the  punishment  is  likewise  re- 
mitted to  us.  There  is  no  doubt  to  be  made,  but  that  at 
present  baptism  is  necessary  to  salvation .  Jesus  Christ 
has  made  a  law  for  it,  and  prescribed  the  manner  of  it. 
If  a  man  be  not  born  again  of  the  ivatcr,  and  of  the 
Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  hingdom  of  heaven,  which 
does  universally  establish  the  necessity  of  baptism." 

In  the  Bishop's  Bible,  which  was  published  in  England  in 
1568,  Acts  ii,  38,  was  translated  in  accordance  with  this 
opinion  of  John  iii,  5.  And  King  James  in  1G03,  gave  di- 
rections and  rules,  agreeably  to  which,  his  translators  were 
to  follow  the  translation  of  the  Bishop's  Bible.    His  fourtk 


BAPTISM.  253 

instruction  was  the  following:  "When  any  word  hath  di- 
verse significations,  (as  was  the  case  with  eis,)  that  one 
is  to  be  kept  which  hath  been  most  commonly  used  by  the 
most  ancient  Fathers,  being  agreeable  to  the  propriety  of 
the  place  and  the  analogy  of  faith. "  Reese,  in  his  Cyclo- 
pedia, says,  that  "the  two  sayings  of  our  Saviour  in  Mark 
xvi,  16,  and  John  iii,  5;  were  the  foundation  of  the  sup- 
posed necessity  of  baptism,  in  order  to  salvation,  in  the 
age  immediately  following  that  of  the  Apostles,  and  that 
accordingly  we  find  baptism  and  regeneration  were  used 
as  synonymous  terms.  It  was  then  imagined,  that  there 
was  something  in  the  rite  of  baptism  itself  to  which  par- 
don was  annexed,  and  in  general  it  was  thought,  that  this 
sanctif5'ing  virtue  was  in  the  water.  Some  asserted,  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  always  given  in  baptism,  and  that  he 
descended  upon  the  water  of  baptism  like  a  dove.  Aus- 
tin says,  that  the  baptismal  water  touches  the  body  and 
purifies  the  heart."  These  have  ever  been  Roman  Catho- 
lic opinions,  and  were  the  occasion  of  the  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  on  the  subject  of  baptism  and  justifica- 
tion, which  I  have  recorded  in  pages  177-8. 

These  opinions  of  baptism  and  justification  in  opposi- 
tion of  the  gospel  views  of  these  subjects,  were  the  causes 
of  the  corruption  of  the  religion  and  church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  from  the  second  century,  and  are  in  a  great  meas- 
ure the  cause  of  them  now.  Calvin  acknowledged  and 
lamented  these  things  in  his  day,  notwithstanding  he  was 
a  Platonic  philosopher,  and  practised  infant  baptism. 
He  says, "  there  are  some  who  attribute  to  the  sacraments, 
I  know  not  what  latent  virtues,  which  are  nowhere  repre- 
sented as  communicated  to  them  by  the  word  of  God. 
By  this  error  the  simple  and  inexperienced  are  danger- 
ously deceived,  being  taught  to  seek  the  gifts  of  God, 
where  they   never  can  be  found,  and  being  gradually 


254  BAPTISM. 

drawn  away  from  God,  to  embrace  mere  vanity,  instead 
of  his  truth.  By  representing  the  sacraments  as  the 
cause  of  justification,  it  envelops  the  minds  of  men,  na- 
turally too  much  inclined  to  the  earth,  in  gross  supersti- 
tion, leading  them  to  rest  in  the  exhibition  of  a  corporeal 
object  rather  than  in  God  himself. "  He  declared  that  bap- 
tism was  of  no  advantage  whatever  to  any  person  until 
after  he  believes.  His  leading  principles  of  reformation 
were,  justification  by  faith  without  works,  and  a  denial 
that  baptism  conferred  any  spiritual  blessings  or  church 
privilege,  previous  to  faith.  Why  he  continued  to  prac- 
tice infant  baptism  with  this  opinion  of  its  uselessness 
I  cannot  tell,  unless  it  was  as  an  ear  mark  to  distinguish 
Protestant  children  from  Roman  Catholic  children.  If  bap- 
tism is  in  the  place  of  circumcision,  it  must  bo  in  the 
place  of  Abraham's  circumcision,  who  is  the  Father  of  all 
that  believe.  His  circumcision  was  a  seal  of  the  right- 
eousness of  the'  faith  he  had  before  he  was  circumcised. 
As  all  of  his  spiritual  seed  are  believers  in  Jesus  Christ, 
they  ought  not  to  be  baptized  until  after  they  believe.  No 
man  was  ever  circumcised  on  account  of  his  faith  but 
Abraham,  and  none  ought  to  be  baptized  without  faith . 

If  Peter's  teaching  and  exhorting  the  Jews  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost  to  "  repent  and  be  baptized  into  the  remis- 
sion of  sin,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,"  be  altogether 
different  from  his  directing  them  to  repent  and  be  baptiz- 
ed,m  order  to  obtain  remission  of  sin;  and  if  the  former 
be  of  the  same  meaning  with  the  direction  of  Christ  to 
baptize  believers,  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  latter  is  not,  it  is 
important  to  ascertain  the  real  difference  between  the  two 
forms  of  expression.  The  importance  of  the  subject  ig 
ieen  in  its  bearing  on  the  scripture  doctrine  of  Justifiob- 
tion,  which  was  treated  in  a  former  essay,  and  upon  th« 


BAPTISM.  255 

personal  views  and  objects  of  individuals,  who  are  baptiz- 
ed. Christ  has  said,  that  not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  his  word 
shall  fail.  The  spiritual  order  and  purity  of  his  religion 
and  church,  depend  upon  preserving  the  scriptural  sense 
and  meaning  of  his  word  pure,  even  down  to  a  monosyl- 
lable, and  in  acting  according  to  it. 

Groves ,  in  his  _Greek  and  English  dictionary,  says,  that 
eis  is  a  preposition,  governing  the  accusative  case  in,  in- 
to; to,  unto,  until;  among,  at,  before,  in 'presence  of;  on, 
upon;  towards,  against;  as  to,  in  respect  of,  concerning; 
through,  by;  for,  for  to,  in  order  to;  to  the  end  that,  so 
that. 

Into  is  the  second  rendering  of  the  word  eis,  in  the  order 
that  Groves  has  presented  it;  for,  or  in  order  to,  is  the 
twentieth  and  twenty-second.  The  following  are  Profes- 
sor Stuart's  remarks  and  criticisms  on  the  subject.  His 
object  is  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  eis,  as  it  is  connect- 
ed with  baptism,  the  ordinance  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
of  baptism  in  preceding  eis,  and  not  in  any  other  connec- 
tipn.  "  The  word  baptize,  may  be  followed  by  a  person 
or  a  thing,  (doctrine)  which  has  eis  before  it.  In  the  first 
place,  when  it  is  followed  by  a  person,  it  means  by  the  rite 
of  baptism,  to  bind  one's  self  to  be  a  disciple  or  follower 
of  a  person,  to  receive  or  obey  his  doctrines  or  laws;  for 
example,  "all  our  fathers  were  under  the  cloud,  and  passed 
through  the  sea;  and  were  all  baptized  {eis)  into  Moses  iw 
the  cloud  and  in  the  sea."  1  Cor.  x,  1-2.  "For  a3 
many  of  you  as  were  baptized  {eis)  into  Christ,  have  put  on 
Christ,"  that  is,  have  professed  to  receive  and  rely  upon 
him  as  Saviour,  and  bound  yourselves  to  be  his  disciples 
and  followers,  and  to  receive  and  obey  his  doctrines  and 
laws."  Gal.  iii,  27.  "  Were  you  baptized  {eis)  into  tho 
name  of  Paul?  1  thank  God  that  I  baptized  none  of  you 
but  Crispus  and  Gaius,  lest  they  should  say  that  I  baptiz- 
ed {eis)  into  my  own  name.     1  Cor.   i,  13-15. 


256  BAPTISM. 

"Or  it  means,  to  acknowledge  him  as  Sovereign,  Lord 
and  Sanctifier."  "Baptizing  them  (m)  into  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. " 
Math,  xxviii,  19.  "  When  they  heard  this  they  were  bap- 
tized (eis)  into  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  •  Acts  xix,  5'. 

"  That  7iame  is  used  after  eis,  as  it  is  in  some  cases, 
makes  no  difference  in  the  sense.  In  Hebrew,  "the  name 
of  the  God  of  Jacob  defend  thee, "  is  just  the  same  as 
"  the  God  of  Jacob  defend  thee. "  And  to  call  upon  the 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  is  the  same  as  to  call  upon  the 
Lord. 

"A  person  may  be  baptized  into  a  thing,  (doctrine). 
'I  baptize  you  with  water  {eic)  into  repentance.'  Math,  iii, 
n.  That  is,  into  the  profession  of  the  reality  and  neces- 
sity of  repentance,  involving  the  idea  that  they  themselves 
professed  to  be  subjects  of  it.  In  Acts  xix,  3. — "  We  were 
baptized  (ei^)  into  John's  baptism."  That  is,  "into  the 
baptism  of  repentance."  Math,  iii,  11:  In  1  Cor.  xii, 
13. — 'We  are  all  baptized  into  one  body  or  fellowship.' 
All  in  the  like  sense,  viz:  by  baptism,  the  public  acknow- 
ledgement is  expressed  of  believing  in,  and  belonging  to 
one  doctrine  or  one  body. 

"  So  in  Acts  ii,  38:  '  Baptized  in  the  name  or  on  account 
of  Jesus  Christ  (eis)  into  the  remission  of  sinj' — That  is, 
into  the  profession  of  the  doctrine  of  remission;  in  other 
words,  by  baptism,  a  profession  and  acknowledgement  of 
this  doctrine  on  account,  or  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ, 
was  made:*''  Christ  v/as  acknowledged  as  Saviour. 

Another  Greek  scholar  remarks,  on  Acts  ii,  38,  "  1 
think  any  person  acquainted  with  the  original  Greek,  will 
agree  with  me  in  translating  Acts  ii,  38,  differently  from 
the  common  version,  which  reads,  "  Repent,  and  be  bap- 
tized every  one  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
emission  of  sin  :  "    It  ought  to  be,  repent,  or  rather  reform 


BAPTISM.  2o7 

or  change  your  minds,  and  let  every  one  of  you  be  baptiz- 
ed (cis)  into  the  doctrine  of  forgiveness  of  sin,  for  Christ's 
sake.  To  be  baptized  into  a  doctrine,  is  the  ordinary 
phrase  of  the  New  Testament.  The  commission  given  to 
the  Apostles,  ought  to  be  so  rendered,  *'  Baptizing  them 
into  the  name,"  &lc.  Math  xxviii,  19.  So  Rom.  vi,  8, 
'^As  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  (eis)  into  Jesus  Christ, 
were  baptized  into  his  death,  that  is,  were  baptized  into 
the  doctrine  that  he  died  for  sinners."  To  be  baptized 
into  Christ,  is  to  be  baptized  into  him  a?  Lord  and  Sav- 
iour. And  as  there  is  but  one  baptism,  it  is  the  same  as 
to  be  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  it  is  into  the  remission  of  sin, 
for  Christ's  sake. 

The  same  author  further  observes,  "  Acts  ii,  38,  I  do 
not  think  can,  in  justice,  be  made  to  bear  any  other  sense 
than  that  which  I  have  given  it,  viz:  "  let  every  one  of 
you  be  baptized  into  that  doctrine  which  te?xhes  for- 
giveness of  sin  in  the  nanie  or  throufrh  the  work  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  Greek  preposition  cis,  which  belongs  to  "  the 
forgiveness  of  sin,"  and  not  that  one  {epi,)  which  pre- 
cedes, ^'the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,"  is  the  preposition 
which  in  the  Greek  Testament  usually  indicates  the  direct 
object  of  baptism. " 

I  cannot  forbear  giving  the  observations  and  criticisms, 
in  part,  of  the  editor  of  the  new  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  by  Drs.  Campbell,  Doddridge  and  McKnight, 
second  edition,  append,  note  3.  I  do  this  to  show  the 
agreement  of  these  Greek  scholars,  when  criticizing  the 
same  word.  His  remarks  are  in  favor  of  rendering  the 
word  cis,  in  Math,  xxviii,  19,  into  instead  of /«,  which  are 
equally  as  applicable  to  rendering  the  same  word  in  Acts 
ii,  38:  zn^o  instead  o^  for,  or  in  order  to,  as  Dr.  Dod- 
dridge has  given  it  in  his  translation,  agreeably  to  the 


•58  BAPTISM. 

early  Fathers.  «  The  changing  of  a  syllable,  may  some- 
times materially  affect  the  meaning,  when  the  changing  a 
phrase  does  not." 

"By  what  inadvertency,  the  King's  translators  gave  {eis) 
m  instead  oHnto,  in  Math,  xxviii,  19,  and  elsewhere  gave 
it  into,  when  speaking  of  the  same  ordinance,  I  presume 
not  to  say.  But  they  have  been  followed  by  most  of  the 
modern  translators,  and  with  them  they  translate  it  into  in 
other  places  v/here  it  stands  in  relation  to  the  institution 
of  baptism,  as  for  example  1  Cor.  xii,  13:  Rom.  vi,  3. 
Gal.  iii,  27:  Acts  xix,  3:  1  Cor.  i,  13.  Oar  fathers  were 
all  immersed  into  Tdoses,  in  the  cbiid  and  in  the  sea. 
They  were  immersed  into  Moses  —  not  x?n'o  the  cloud  and 
into  the  sea  —  l)ut  in  the  cloud  and  in  {he  sea,  they  were 
immersed  into  Moses.  The  authority  by  which  any  ac- 
tion is  done  is  one  thin^,  and  the  oljcct  for  vrhich  it  is  done 
is  another.  None  who  can  discriminate,  can  think  that  it 
is  one  and  the  same  thing  to  be  immersed  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  and  to  be  immersed  into  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
The  former  denotes  the  authority  by  which  the  action 
is  performed,  the  latter  the  object  for  which  it  is  perform- 
ed." 

''To  be  immersed  into  the  name  of  the  Lord  J^sus,  was 
a  form  of  speech  in  ancient  usage,  as  familiar  and  signifi- 
cant as  to  enter  into  matrimony  —  into  an  alliance  —  to 
run  into  danger,  &c.  And  when  we  analyze  these  ex- 
pressions, we  fmd  tliey  all  import  that  the  persons  are 
either  under  the  obligations  or  influence  of  those  things 
into  which  they  arc  said  to  enter,  or  into  which  they  are 
introduced.  Hence  those  immersed  into  one  body  (1  Cor. 
xii,  13)  were  under  the  influence  and  obligation  of  that 
one  body."  And  I  would  say,  that  those  immersed  into  the 
remission  of  sins,  were  under  the  influence  of  remission, 
on  tlie  day  of  Pentecost."    '«  Those  immersed  into  Moses, 


BAPTISM.  259 

assumed  him  as  their  law-giver,  guide  and  protector,  and 
risked  every  thing  upon  his  authority,  wisdom,  power  and 
goodness.  Those  who  were  immersed  into  Christ,  put 
him  on,  acknowledged  his  authority  and  laws,  and  were 
governed  by  his  will  —  and  those  who  were  immersed  in- 
to the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Ho- 
ly Ghost,  regarded  the  Father  as  the  fountain  of  all  au- 
thority—  the  Son  as  the  only  Saviour — :and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  the  only  advocate  of  the  truth  and  teacher  of 
Christianity."         *  *  *  -^  * 

*'  They  who  are  immersed  into  the  name  of  Christ,  as» 
Bume  his  name,  acknowledge  him  as  Lord  and  Master, 
and  Icok  to  him  for  support  and  protection  "  —  and  salva- 
tion. "  This  view  of  the  matter  made  Paul  thank  God 
when  the  Christians  in  Corinth  were  assuming  different 
names,  (one  the  name  of  Paul,  and  another  the  name  of 
Apollos,&c.)  that  he  had  immersed  none,  or  ^ew  of  them, 
lest  the  report  should  get  abroad  that  he  had  immersed  into 
his  own  name.'"  From  the  precedingremarks  of  these  Greek 
biblical  scholars,  including  Dr.  Dwight,  we  see  the  design 
and  use  of  baptism  as  a  gospel  ordinance,  and  that  it  is 
necessarily  connected  with  the  authority  and  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  Jewish  nation,  in  the  persons  of  the 
Fathers,  had  been  baptized  into  Moses,  in  the  cloud  and 
in  the  sea.  They  v.ere,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  to  be 
baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  as  Messiah  and  Saviour,  which 
was  the  same  as  to  be  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Fa- 
ther, and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  What  Home 
has  said  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Critical  Study  and 
Knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  of  the  Jewish  ideas  of  re- 
mission of  sin,  will  enable  us  better  to  understand  the 
meaning  of  Peter  in  Acts  ii,  38 ;  and  to  see  the  propriety 
of  the  remarks  of  Professor  Stuart  and  others.  Home  ob* 


260  BAPTISM. 

serves,  that  "the  Jews  assigned  three  grounds  for  remission 
of  sin  or  justification  before  God,  by  which  they  were  de- 
livered from  (he  guilt  and  punishment  of  sin,  viz: 

1.  The  extraordinary  piety  and  merits  of  their  ances- 
tors Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  the  twelve  Patri- 
archs, and  the  Covenant  God  made  with  them. 

2.  The  knowledge  of  God  through  the  law  of  Moses, 
and  their  diligence  in  the  study  of  that  law,  which  they 
esteem  so  holy  as  to  make  it  a  plea  for  the  remission  of 
sin. 

3.  The  works  of  the  Levitical  laws,  which  were  to  ex- 
piate sin,  epecially  circumcision  and  sacrifices;  whence 
the  Jews  inferred  that  the  Gentiles  must  receive  the  whole 
law  of  Moses  in  order  to  be  justified;  in  other  words,  that 
there  was  no  salvation  out  of  the  Jewish  Church." 

The  old  Covenant  and  Jewish  economy  were  abolished 
by  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  Jews,  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost, were  instructed  and  exhorted  by  Peter,  to  reform 
or  change  their  minds,  in  accordance  with  the  manifesta- 
tions made  to  their  senses  of  the  truth  of  the  introduction 
and  establishment  of  the  new  covenant  and  gospel,  and 
to  renounce  their  former  grounds  on  which  they  relied  for 
the  divine  favor,  and  be  baptized  into  the  remission  of  sin, 
on  account  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  made  Prince  and  Sa- 
viour. They  that  gladly  received  the  word  were  baptiz- 
ed into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Ho- 
ly Ghost,  as  Christ  had  commanded.  This  was  of  the 
same  meaning  as  to  be  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  or  into 
the  remission  of  sin,  in  his  name,  or  for  his  sake.  After 
Atior  they  were  baptized,  they  doubtless  received  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  they  saw  the  hundred  and  twenty 
dis'^lples  possess  it,  and  as  Peter  promised,  which  sealed 
und  confirmed  the  divine  truth  of  all  that  Peter  had  said, 
and  of  all  that  they  believed,  and  of  baptism  itself  as  an 


BAPTISM*  261 

tjrdinance  of  Josus  Christ,  by  which  they  were  to  renounce 
Moses  and  the  law,  and  put  on  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  Christ 
was  made  of  God  unto  them  wisdom,  and  righteousness 
and  sanctifi^ation  and  redemption,  an  J  they  received  him 
in  the  fullness  of  his  character,  as  an  entire  and  perfect 
Saviour,  and  bound  themselves  by  then  baptism,  to  rely 
upon  him  for  every  thing,  as  we  fl:>rmet]y  viewed  him,  at 
the  light  and  deliverer  of  the  worid,  tiiid  the  author  of  a 
new,  miraculous,  spiritual  and  universal  religion,  whoso 
majesty,  glory  and  dominion,  are  without  limits. 

The  Samaritans,  also,  when  they  heard  the  gospel  and 
believed  it,  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Jews 
had  been  —  and  became  one  with  the  Jewish  converts. 
This  was  the  case  also  with  the  Gentiles.  But  owing  to 
the  difference  of  their  previous  religious  and  political 
state,  from  those  of  the  Jews,  there  was  some  difference 
attending  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  among  them,  and 
their  baptism.  The  Holy  Ghost,  as  we  saw  in  the  last 
Essay,  was  poured  out  upon  the.n  after  they  believed,  and 
before  they  were  baptized  in  witer,  as  a  seal  of  the  for- 
giveness'of  their  sin.  As  there  was  but  one  baptism  for 
Jew  and  Gentile,  they  were  baptized  into  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  They, 
with  the  Jews,  were  made  the  childrers  of  God  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus,  under  the  free,  gracious  provisions  of  the 
new  covenant,  obtained  remission  of  sin  through  his 
blood,  and  put  him  on  by  baptism.  They  renounced  their 
Gentileism,  and  came  into  the  same  fellowship  with  the 
Jews.  They  were  sealed  and  confirmed  by  the  baptism  or 
the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  being  in  the  possession  and 
enjoyment  of  the  divine  favor  before  they  were  baptized 
in  water.  And  Peter  declares,  that  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  bestowed  upon  them  after  they  believed  and  befor« 
they  were  baptized  in  water,  as  it  was  upon  him  and 
23 


216^  BAPTISM. 

the  rest  of  the  hundred  and  twenty  disciples  at  the  begin- 
ning (Acts  ii,  1-4),  was  God's  witness  that  he  had  put  no 
difference  between  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles,  having  pu- 
rified their  hearts  by  faith.     Acts  xv,  7-9. 

This  accords  with  what  was  said  in  the  Essay  on  Justi- 
fication, and  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Through  the 
gospel  of  his  grace,  and  justification  or  the  remission  of 
sin  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  God  granted  to  the  Gen- 
tiles repentance  unto  life,  and  made  them,  with  the  believ- 
ing Jews,  the  spiritual  seed  of  Abraham,  and  heirs  accord- 
ing to  the  promise. 

THE    OEDINAISCE    OF    BAPTISM   IS    IM3IERSI0X   IN   WATEH. 

The  most  astonishing  and  prominent  facts  in  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  are  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesun 
Christ,  and  the  resurrection  of  his  disciples  to  a  happy 
immortal  life  through  him. 

It  would  be  passing  strange  that  the  Christian  religion 
should  have  had  no  ordinance  instituted  by  Christ  to  me- 
morialize, and  strikingly  to  represent  these  things.  The 
supper  represented  his  death,  but  not  his  burial  and  res- 
urrection. If  Christ  be  not  risen,  there  is  nothing  true 
in  the  whole  of  his  religion : — but  he  is  risen.  He  wa» 
delivered  for  our  offences,  and  rose  again  for  our  justifi- 
cation. A  true  faith  in  his  death  and  resurrection,  is  the 
first  principle  of  life  in  the  soul.  I  do  not  intend  to  go  in- 
to a  protracted  discussion  of  this  subject.  Every  true  be- 
liever in  Jesus  Christ  does  believe  in  his  death  and 
resurrection,  and  is  actually  justified  through  his  blood, 
"whether  he  believes  in  baptism  by  immersion  or  not.  It 
is,  however,  greatly  to  be  desired,  that  the  truth  in  respect 
to  the  one  baptism,  as  in  every  thing  else,  should  prevail. 
A  difference  in  this  ought  not  to  prevent  Christian  fellow- 


BAPTISM.  2W 

•hip.  Oar  best  Greek  scholars  agree,  that  the  Greek  word 
which  is  always  used  to  express  the  ordinance  of  baptism, 
means  nothing  more  nor  less  than  to  dip  or  immerse. 
It  never  expresses  any  thing  but  mode.  Bapio  signifies 
to  dip^  tinge,  or  die;  but  haptizo,  to  immerse  alone.  I 
will  here  employ  some  of  the  views  of  Carson  on  the 
subject  of  baptism.  The  following  expression  of  Paul, 
cannot  by  any  just  principle  of  interpretation,  be  made  to 
mean  any  thing  else  than  that  baptism  is  immersion,  and  it 
ehows,  too,  that  the  proper  subject  of  gospel  baptism,  has 
died  to  sin  and  risen  with  Christ  in  spirit,  by  faith  in  hia 
cross,  before  he  is  baptized  in  water;  that  is,  he  has  ob- 
tained the  remission  of  his  sin,  through  faith  in  the  blood 
of  Christ.  "How  shall  we  that  are  dead  to  sin,  live  any 
longer  therein?  Know  ye  not  that  so  many  of  us  as  were 
baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  were  baptized  into  his  death? 
Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death: 
that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory 
of  the  Fatiier,  eveo  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of 
life."     Rom.  vi,  2-4. 

As  in  Christ's  death,  we  have  died  with  him;  so  in  bap- 
tism we  are  figuratively  put  into  the  grave  along  with 
him.  Words  cannot  more  plainly  teach  any  thing,  than 
these  words  teach  that  in  baptism  we  are  buried  with 
Christ.  Baptism,  then,  must  not  only  contain  a  likeness 
to  burial,  but  that  likeness  is  emblematical.  Baptism  ii 
not  a  figure  of  speech;  it  is  an  emblematical  action. 
Baptism  is  also  an  emblem  of  the  new  life  of  the  Chris- 
tian: "  that  like  as  Christ  was  saved  from  the  dead  by  the 
glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  new- 
ness of  life."  We  die  with  Christ  to  sin,  through  faith  in 
his  cross,  and  rise  with  him  to  a  new  life  of  holiness. 

There  is  then  something  in  baptism  that  is  an  emblem 
Qi  a  resurrection  as  well  as  of  a  burial.     Immersion  is  a 


!W4  BAPTISM. 

mode  that  answers  both,  and  it  is  !he  only  mode  that  doei 
ao.  In  baptism  we  are  emblenratically  laid  in  the 
grave  with  Christ,  and  we  are  emblematically  raised  with 
him  out  of  it. 

It  is  designed  to  point  to  our  own  resurrection,  as  well 
as  to  ihe  resurrection  of  Christ.  In  baptism  we  profess  our 
faith  in  the  one  as  past,  and  in  the  other  as  future.  What 
simplicity,  what  beauiy,  what  edification  is  contained  in 
this  ordinance,  and  how  necessary  it  is  to  keep  the  most 
striking  facts  of  the  gospel  in  our  view  I  We  are  made  parta- 
kers by  faith  in  the  death  of  Christ,  by  which  we  are  justi- 
fied. We  do  not  become  partakers  in  his  death  by  being  bap- 
tized into  the  faith  of  his  death.  We  become  partakers  in 
the  death  of  Christ  by  faith,  before  and  without  baptism; 
and  would  have  been  equally  so  had  baptism  never  been 
instituted.  In  baptism,  this  participation  in  Christ  is  ex- 
hibited in  figure,  just  as  we  are  said  to  wash  away  our 
sins  in  baptism.  Sins  are  washed  away  by  faith  in  the 
blood  of  Christ,  but  they  are  symbolically  washed  away 
in  baptism.  Just  so  we  become  partakers  in  the  death  of 
Christ  the  moment  that  we  believe;  in  baptism  this  par- 
ticipation is  exhibited  by  a  symbol. 

The  Christian  has  a  real  death,  burial  and  resurrection 
with  Christ  by  faith.  He  has  all  these  also  in  baptism  by 
figure.  The  previous  death ,  burial,  and  resurrection  with 
Christ  hy  faith,  must  have  really  taken  place  before  bap- 
tism, or  baptism  is  misplaced  and  has  no  meaning;  it  is  an 
emblematical  action  in  that  case,  of  nothing  that  has  taken 
place  in  the  subject  of  it.  None  then  ought  to  be  baptiz- 
ed in  order  fo  obtain  the  actual  remission  of  sin.  The 
believer  is  one  with  Christ  by  a  real  union.  He  is  one 
with  Christ  as  truly  as  he  is  one  with  Adam.  He  dies 
with  Christ  as  truly  as  he  fell  with  Adam  It  is  by  the  di- 
▼ine  constitution  of  the  New  Covenant,  that  all  true  belief- 


BAPTISM.  2G5 

crs  are  one  with  him.  When  Christians  are  therefore  said 
to  have  died  with  Christ  by  faith,  there  is  no  more  figure 
than  when  it  is  said  that  they  have  died  in  Adam,  or  that 
they  shall  die  themselves. 

^'  How  shall  we  that  are  dead  to  sin,  live  any  longer 
therein?"  Death  here  is  a  real  death.  But  how  are  wo 
dead?  By  faith  in  Christ,  we  are  dead  to  sin  — and  in  bap- 
tism this  truth  is  exhibited  in  figure :  "  Know  ye  not  that 
so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  were 
baptized  into  his  death?  To  be  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ 
imports  the  being  baptized  into  the  faith  of  his  death  as 
our  substitute,  but  to  be  baptized  into  his.  death,  imports 
that  by  baptism  we  are  exhibited  as  dying  along  with  him. 
The  death  in  baptism  is  a  figurative  death,  founded  on  the 
real  death  by  faith;  and  the  washing  away  of  sin  in  bap- 
tism, is  a  figurative  washing  away  of  sin;  but  if  it  had 
not  been  actualhj  washed  away  previously  by  faith  in 
Christ's  blood,  baptism  would  not  be  a  figurative  washing 
away  of  sin  in  the  subject: — This  was  the  case  with  Si- 
mon Magus,  and  it  is  the  case  with  all  those  who  are  bap- 
tized in  order  to  obtain  the  actual  remission  of  their  sin, 
and  who  had  not  obtained  remission  previously  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

We  are  not  said  to  be  buried  with  Christ  by  faith,  but 
buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death.  This  burial  is  not 
merely  a  burial  by  faith,  but  a  burial  by  baptism.  The 
language  imports  also  that  baptism  has  a  reference  both 
to  Christ's  resurrection  and  our  own  life.  "  We  are  bu- 
ried with  him  by  baptism  into  death,  that  like  as  Christ 
was  raised  up  from  the  dead,  by  the  glory  of  the  Father, 
even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life."  Thii 
is  stated  as  the  end  of  baptism,  not  as  the  end  of  faith*  Af 
baptism  does  not  effect  these  things ,  i  t  must  be  vie  wed  as  a  fi- 
gure. Baptism  makes  us  die,  buries  us,  raises  us, only  in  fiir- 
23*  ' 


366  BAPTISM. 

ure ;  therefore  when  we  are  said  todie,  to  be  buried  to  rise  in 
baptism,  baptism  must  contain  a  likeness  to  these  things. 
It  is  not  in  baptism,  nor  by  means  of  baptism,  that  we 
die   with  Christ  really,  or  are   made    spiritually  alive. 
This  death  and  this  life  take  place   before  baptism.     So  it 
is  with  the  remission  of  sin,   they  all  take  place   by  faitb 
in  the  cross  of  Christ.     Baptism,   then,  can  have  these 
things  ascribed  to  it  only  in  figure.     We  wash   away  sins 
in  baptism,  just  as  we  eat  the  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
Lord's  Supper.     "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless^ 
is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ?  The  bread 
which  we  break,  is   it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of 
Christ?"     How  are  the  cup  and  the  bread  the  communion 
of  the  blood  and  body  of  Christ?  In  figure.     Just  so  bap- 
tism washes  away  sin.     Just  so  in  baptism  we  die,  we 
are  buried,  and  we  rise.     But  the  truth  of  the  emblem  is 
effected,  not  by  baptism  in  any  sense,  but  by  faith.     The 
death,  burial  and  resurrection,  which  are  ascribed  to  bap- 
tism, take  place  in  baptism,  and  by  means   of  baptism. 
The  washing  away  of  sins  ascribed  to  baptism,  is  eflfected 
by  baptism.     This  washing,  this  death,  this  burial  and  this ' 
resurrection,  cannot  be  the  washing,  death,  burial  and  res^ 
urrection  which  are  effected  by  faith,  and  which  take 
place  before  baptism.     The  reality  of  these  things  has 
already  taken  place  by  faith,  but  it  is  represented   in  fi- 
gure as  taking  place  in  the  ordinance,  and  by  means  of 
the  ordinance.     In  the  expressions  wasJi  away  sin  by  bap- 
tism, death,  burial  and  resurrection  in  baptism,  there  is 
no  figure  of  speech.     It  is  a  figurative  action,  not  a  figu- 
rative expression.     A  symbol  is  not  a  figure  of  speech. 
Death,  burial  and  resurrection,  we  do  not  consider  as  tho 
primaiy  meaning  of  baptism,  and  washing  away  sin  as  a 
secondary  meaning.     It  takes  both  together  to  make  on© 
HiMining.     The  ordinance  has  one  meaning  only.     It  ufA 


BAPTISM.  267 

only  signifies  washing  away  sin  through  faith  in  the  blood 
of  Christ,  but  denotes  that  such  sins  are  washed  away  by 
our  fellowship  with  him  in  his  death. 

Another  passage  that  favors  the  view  and  import  given 
of  baptism,  is  1  Cor.  xv,  29:  "Else  what  shall  they  do 
which  are  baptized  for  the  dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at  all? 
Why  are  they  baptized  for  the  dead?"  There  is  in  this 
passage  an  argument,  and  the  object  of  baptism  must  be 
a  scriptural  object,  otherwise  it  could  not  be  an  argu- 
ment. 

Baptism  here  plainly  represents  the  resurrection  of 
the  saints  from  the  dead,  to  inherit  eternal  life  with  Christ, 
and  that  his  death  and  resurrection  are  a  proof  and  pledge 
of  it.  To  deny  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  it  would 
appear  from  this  passage,  sets  aside  the  crowning  desiorn 
and  meaning  of  baptism,  and  renders  it  of  no  conse- 
quence. And  to  deny  that  baptism  is  a  representation 
and  pledge  of  this,  takes  from  it  an  essential  part  of  its 
meaning.  "  By  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even 
BO  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  But  every  man  in 
his  own  order."     1  Cor.  xv,  21-23. 

I  repeat  the  question  formerly  stated,  would  it  not  be 
atrange  that  in  the  Christian  religion,  which  is  based  in, 
and  rests  upon  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead,  who  has  abolished  death  and  brought 
life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the  gospel^  and  upon 
which  the  hope  and  assurance  of  the  resurrection  of  hit 
disciples  depend,  there  should  be  no  ordinance  to  repre- 
sent the  resurrection,  either  of  Christ  or  his  followers, 
although,  in  this  very  article,  that  religion  is  preeminently 
distinguished  from  all  other  religions?  Is  it  not  Strang 
that  it  should  be  thought  that  baptism  does  not  represeni 
thd  resurrection  of  Christ  and  his  people,  although  it  is  «• 


£33  BAPTISM. 

expressly  asserted  that,  having  died  to  sin  by  faith  in  hii 
cross,  they  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death  f 
What  shall  they  do  who  are  baptized  for  the'.r  belief  in  th« 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not?  The  Sup- 
per represents  the  death  of  Christ,  and  baptism  his  resur- 
rection. The  resurrection  of  the  dead  is  a  fact  that  is 
altogether  supernatural  and  miraculous,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  diflicult  facts  to  be  believed  that  can  be  proposed  to 
the  human  mind,  and  ever  has  been,  and  which  could  not  be 
believed  but  for  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  miracles  which  the  Apostles  wrought  in  proof  of 
it.  These  stand  inseparably  connected  with  the  redemp- 
tion and  eternal  salvation  of  the  true  believer  through  the 
blood  of  Christ,  as  his  faith,  hope  and  confidence  are 
based  in  his  death  and  resurrection,  by  the  word  of 
God. 

At  the  same  time  that  baptism  is  a  symbolical  action 
which  represents  the  fact  that  the  true  believer  is  dead  to 
sin,  in  a  spiritual  and  moral  sense,  and  is  risen  to  newness 
of  life  with  Christ  through  faith  in  his  cross,  it  manifests, 
moreover,  his  faith  in  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Je- 
ius  Christ  from  the  dead,  which  is  passed,  and  his  faith 
in  his  own  resurrection,  which  is  future.  There  could 
have  been  no  proselyte  baptism  which  preceded  the  bap- 
tism of  the  New  Testament,  that  could  have  any  connec- 
tion with  it,  because  that  baptism  emblematically  repre- 
sents and  memorialize  a  fact  that  never  existed  before 
Christ  rose  from  the  dead,  and  it  is  an  institution  in  a  reli- 
gion that  never  existed  before,  it  being  based  in  the  ne\f 
covenant,  which  was  established  by  the  death  and  resu»- 
rcction  of  Jesus  Christ.  Without  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  which  is  an  event  which  is  alone  incident  to  the  new 
covenant,  and  is  represented  in  the  action  of  baptism, 
wherein  believers  are  immersed  in  water  into  the  name 


BAPTISM.  259 

©f  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  are  raised  out  of  it,  believers  cannot  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  God.  1  Cor.  XV,  50.  Under  the  spiritual  provis- 
ions and  blessings  of  tlie  new  covenant,  "the  body  of  the 
eaints  is  sown  a  natural  body ;  it  will  be  raised  a  spiritual  bo- 
dy for  as  they  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthly,lhey  shall 
also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly."  1  Cor.  xv,  49. 
Hence  through  that  faith  by  which  the  mercy  of  God  hath 
begotten  us  to  the  hope  of  another  life,  through  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  we  look  for  the 
Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  change  our 
vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious 
body,  according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  to  sub- 
due all  things  unto  himself.  1  Pet.  iii,  5:  Phil,  iii,  20, 
21.  The  complete  work  of  regeneration  cannot,  be  effect- 
ed without  the  resurrection  of  the  body  from  the  dead. 
With  a  view  to  Christ's  commission  given  to  the  Apostles, 
to  preach  the  gospel  and  to  baptize,  and  with  a  view  to  the 
design  and  meaning  of  baptism,  is  it  not  really  strange 
that  the  ordinance  of  baptism  by  immersion,  should  be  re- 
garded as  a  sectarian  ordinance  among  Christians,  and 
that  there  should  be  any  sect  that  disowns  it?  There 
would  be  just  as  great  proprie  y  in  asserting,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  a  change  of  heart,  and  of  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead  of  the  saints  to  a  glorious  immortal  life,  are 
sectarian  doctrines.  And  what  is  more  strange  atill,  is, 
that  baptism  itself,  shotild  have  been  made  the  occasion  of 
more  corruptions,  divisions  and  persecutions  in  the  religion 
and  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  than  any  one  thing  that  has 
ever  occurred.  These  effects  have  resulted  from  two 
causes:  the  first  was  in  detaching  the  ordinance  from  Je- 
sus Christ  himself  and  from  the  belief  of  the  gospel,  and  from 
the  spiritual  nature  of  his  religion  and  kingdom.  The 
iecond  was  in  the  profanation  of  baptism  by   administer^ 


1670 


BAPTISM. 


ing  it  for  uses  and  purposes,  and  by  ascribing  to  it 
rirtues  and  properties,  which  the  word  of  God  does  not 
authorize,  and  which  are  na  where  represented  as  com- 
municated to  it  by  the  word  of  God. 

The  early  Father^: — wih  Irsiwing  their  attention  from 
the  supremicy  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  from  (he  spiritual  na- 
ture and  universality  of  his  religion  and  kingdom,  and 
failing  to  regard  bapiisin  and  the  sapper  as  subordinate  to 
tlieir  promotion,  and  misapprehending  the  divine  nature 
of  the  New  Covenant  administered  by  him,  whose  gra- 
cious blessings  secure  the  remission  of  sin,  and  a  nevr 
nature  through  faith  in  his  blood  to  every  true  believer 
—  gave  to  baptism  itseif  the  power  of  renewing,  and 
of  regenerating  men's  hearts  —  of  remitting  sin,  and  of 
justifying  sinners  before  God.  And  thus  baptism  was 
perverted  to  a  superstitious  and  idolatrous  use,  as  was  also 
the  bread  nnd  wine  in  the  Lard's  supper.  A  i'ew  equivo- 
cal passnges  of  scripture,  by  a  gratuitous  or  tortured  con- 
struction, were  resorted  to,  to  support  them.  By  these 
means  the  ordinance  of  baptism  and  the  supper,  were 
made  to  occupy  the  place  of  Jesus  Christ  himself,  who 
instituted  them,  and  his  religion  and  church  became  cor- 
rupted, an{l  their  immoralities  became  abominable;  tho 
salt  lost  its  savour,  and  the  mass  became  morally  pu- 
trid. 

The  blood  of  Christ,  which,  through  fiiith,  cleanseth 
from  all  sin,  was  made  to  give  wAy  to  baptismal  water, 
and  ceased  to  exert  any  purifying  effect  upon  the  heart. 
These  evils,  in  some  considerable  degree,  exist  in  the 
present  da3^,  and  in  some  cases  have  been  revived  with 
new  energy.  Their  only  remedy  is  in  a  correct  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  and  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  in  pi- 
ous godly  living.  The  foundation  of  the  whole  super- 
itructure  of  the  gospel  is  laid  in  the  principle  of  the  justift. 


BAPTISM.  271 

cation  of  sinners,  or  the  method  according  to  which  God 
remits  the  sins  of  the  ungodly,  and  takes  them  into  hii 
favour.  To  engage  the  mind  of  the  reader  in  a  fair  and 
thorough  investigation  of  the  subject,  in  concluding  what 
I  have  to  say  on  baptism,  I  would  ask  him  the  following 
questions,  and  demand  of  him  a  specific  answer,  derived 
from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles: 

1.  Has  the  gospel  ever  been  preached  to  the  Gentilei 
by  divine  authority,  and  when  was  it  first  preached  to 
them? 

2.  Has  God  given  to  the  Gentiles  repentance  unto  lif» 
or  the  remission  of  sin,  and  if  he  has,  did  he  doit  by  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ  without  water  baptism,  or  was  it  by  faith, 
in  water  baptism? 

I  find  no  account  of  the  gospel  having  been  preached  to 
the  Gentiles,  in  the  nine  first  chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  which  give  a  history  of  their  labors  for  the  first 
seven  or  eight  years.  Had  the  Apostles  continued  to 
preach  as  they  had  done  from  the  day  of  Pentecost  up 
to  that  time,  the  gospel  would  not  up  to  this  day  have  been 
sent  to  the  Gentiles.  As  God  sealed  and  confirmed  the 
fact  that  he  gave  remission  of  sin  to  the  Jews  and  Samari- 
tans, and  abolished  their  religious  institutions  and  estab- 
lished the  gospel  among  them  by  the  miraculous  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  I  ask  the  same  testimony — the  same  mi- 
raculous gifts  as  God's  seal  and  confirmation  of  the  fact 
of  the  remission  of  sin  among  the  Gentiles,  and  of  the 
principle  or  operation  through  which  remission  was  com- 
municated to  them,  and  that  by  which  they  received 
it.  I  ask  for  information  and  proof  on  these  subject! 
in  a  historical  detail  given  by  the  direction  oj  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  the  best  evidence  that  the  nature  of  the  case  af- 
fords. I  have  a  right  to  expect  it,  because  of  the  vast  im- 
portance of  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  to  the  Gentilof 


SP7^  BAPTISM. 

to  the  nations  of  the  whole  world  —  and  of  the  necessity 
of  a  definite  and  explicit  account  from  God  himself,  that 
there  may  be  no  difficulty  or  doubt  upon  the  subject,  which 
would  be  the  case  if  the  information  was  left  to  be  collect- 
ed from  distant  allusions,  hints  and  references  in  the  Epis- 
tles. 

Now,  reader,  turn  to  the  10  h  chapter  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  and  read  it  over  carefully,  and  there  you  will 
Bce  that  the  gospel  was  sent  to  the  Gentiles  by  divine  ap- 
pointment, and  that  according  to  the  testimony  of  all  the 
prophets,  and  of  Peter  himself,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
God  gave  to  the  Gentiles  remission  of  sin  before  there 
was  a  word  said  about  water  baptism: — the  truth  of  this 
was  sealed  and  conjlrmed  by  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

Turn  to  the  11th  chapter,  2  ,-18,  there  you  find  Peter 
rehearsing  the  matter  in  order,  and  expounding  it  to  the 
Jewish  converts  at  Jerusalem,  and  proving  to  them  that 
God  had  granted  to  the  Gentiles  remission  of  sin,  which 
was  in  no  way  connected  with  water  baptism  whatever. 
This  he  proved  by  stating  the  fact  that  the  moment  they 
believed  what  he  declared  from  the  prophets,  (see  the 
10th  ch.  43)  "  that  through  his  name,  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  shall  receive  remission  of  tin, "  the  Holy  Ghost 
fell  on  them  as  on  Peter  and  the  rest  of  the  Apostles,  at 
the  beginning,  as  Christ  had  said  in.  Acts  i,  5.  When 
they  heard  these  things,  they  glorified  God  saying,  then 
hath  God  also  to  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto  life. 
In  this  case  Peter  said  not  a  word  to  them  about  water 
baptism,  and  they  asked  not  a  question  about  it,  because 
It  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  actual  remission  of  their  sins; 
the  Gentiles  having  received  remission  before  Peter  direct* 
ed  them  to  be  baptized.  See  ch.  x,  47-48.  In  Acts  xv, 
7-9,  we  have  Peter's  testimony  repeated,  in  which  he 


BAPTISM.  273 

says,  that  '•  God  who  knovveth  the  hearts,  bare  the  Gen- 
tiles witness,  giving  ihem  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  as  he  did 
unto  us,  (Acts  ii,  1-4)  and  put  no  difference  between  us 
and  them,  having  purified  their  hearts  by  faith. "  This 
testimony,  which  satisfied  Peter  and  the  apostolic  Chris- 
tians in  this  matter,  and  which  forever  settled  the  princi- 
ple according  to  which  God  gives  remission  of  sin,  puri- 
fies the  heart  and  justifies  the  ungodly,  ought  to  satisfy 
us.  It  proves  that  remission  of  sin  is  received  by  faith 
before  baptism,  and  that  the  assurance  and  enjoyment  of 
remission  ;ire  to  be  found  in  the  truth  and  reality  of  our 
faith  in  ;he  sealed  record  of  God'^s  gracious  truth,  and 
in  a  holy  life,  and  that  to  be  baptised  is  the  duty  of  those 
that  believe. 

God  havin?  put  n  >  difference  between  the  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  having  purified  their  hearts  by  faith,  it  is  mani- 
festly an  error  to  look  f  >r  remission  of  sin  in  baptism, 
where  it  is  not  promised  and  cannot  be  found.  Instead 
of  its  being  an  act  of  obedience  to  be  baptized  in  order 
to  obtain  the  remission  of  sin,  it  is  a  total  misapprehen- 
sion of  the  design  of  I  iptism,  and  of  God's  method  of 
giving  remissi  sn.  If  it  is  not  obtained  through  faith  in 
Christ  without  bipism,  the  gospel  does  not  authorise  us 
to  believe  that  it  is  obtained  at  all.  There  is  as  much 
scriptural  authority  for  -he  baptism  of  infants  in  order  to 
their  salvation,  as  there  is  for  the  actual  remission  of  sin 
in  immersion  —  nei  her  can  be  sustained  by  scripture. 
We  receive  Christ  by  faith,  and  put  him  on  in  baptism. 
The  faith  of  the  Christian  ends  in  Christ  for  remission, 
and  not  in  baptism. 

I  have  been  this  particular,  because  among  the  true 
believers  in  Jesus  Christ,  who  are  made  the  children  of 
God  by  faith,  although  there  may  be  a  difference  in  their 
riev's  of  baptism,  they  ought  to  fellowship  each  other  as 
■  rethren.  24 


274  BAPTISM. 

There  never  can  be  any  real  practical  Christian  reibr- 
mation  among  those  who  are  wrong  on  the  subject  of  jua- 
tification  or  the  remission  of  sin.  They  may  build  up  a 
party  tor  a  time,  through  the  influence  of  novelty,  collision, 
and  strife, but  it  must  inevitably  go  down  through  the  want 
of  the  cleansing  influences  of  the  blood  of  the  atonement, 
and  by  unscriptural  views  and  sentiments  of  the  charac- 
ter and  glory  of  Jesus  Christ, and  of  christian  duty. 

The  proof  that  I  have  adduced  of  remisssion  of  sin  by 
faith  without  baptism,  consisting  in  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  may  be  objected  to,  on  account  of  their  being  mi- 
raculous. This  objection  arises  from  a  misapprehension 
ofthe  design  and  use  of  these  gifts .  They  were  in  this  case 
God's  witness  or  proof,  or  confirmation  of  the  truth  of 
remission  communicated  by  the  gospel,  and  received  by 
faith.  Take  away  all  that  was  miraculous,  and  we  have 
destroyed  the  whole  record  of  the  fact,  and  the  proof  of 
it  too,  that  God  has  given  to  the  Gentiles  remission  of  sin. 

I  am  thus  particular,  because  ihjse  why  ;ui opt  the  opin- 
ion of  remission  in  baptism,  put  it  out  of  their  power  to 
regard  any  as  Christians  wha  differ  from  them  in  baptism. 
They  ore  compelled  to  give  up  |>ious  pedobnptists  to  tho 
uncovenanted  mercies  of  God,  and  to  reg;ird  them  as  in 
the  same  state  with  the  heathen,  which  arises  from  a  mis- 
apprehension of  remission  aitogelher-  and  they  involve 
themselves  in  danger  of  eternal  ruin,  by  relying  for  re- 
mission open  baptism,  in  which  God  never  promised  it. 

Baptism  h;is  no  more  to  do  in  procurin^j;  the  actual  re- 
mission of  sin  thnn  the  Lord's  Siipi)cr  h;is.  They  are 
both  to  be  submitted  and  attended  to  in  consequence  v^  re- 
mission  already  received  through  fuiih  in  Christ.  The  as- 
surance and  enjoyment  of  remission  are  found  in  that  faith 
by  which  God  ptuifics  the  heart,  and  which  prompts  to 
obedience  and  works  by  love. 


ESSAY    XV, 


aELIGIOVS    EXPERIENCE, 


Religious,  or  Christian  Experience,  is  of  greal 
importaflce.  Those  persons  who  profess  religion  and 
liave  no  Christian  experience,  have  yet  to  learn  their 
own  depravity  and  corruption,  the  evil  nature  of  sin, 
and  the  change  of  heart  that  is  effected  by  divine  grace, 
through  the  atonement  and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christby 
the  gospeU 

Man,  by  nature,  is  an  outcast  from  God,  and  is  involv- 
ed in  spiritual  darkness,  guilt,  corruption  and  death. 

The  Christian  religion  is  designed  to  remedy  this  stat« 
—  to  give  spiritual  light  and  life  —  to  change  and  purify 
the  heart,  and  impart  eternal  life  to  the  soul. 

Many  despise  what  is  called  Christian  experience;  In- 
fidels sneer  at  it;  formalists,  and  nominal  professors  ridi- 
cule it.  All  this  arises  from  their  ignorance  of  what 
real  religion  is.  Every  Christian  should  be  willing, 
like  David,  to  celebrate  the  mercies  of  God  vouchsafed 
to  him,  and  be  willing  to  say,  ''come  and  hear,  all  ye  that 
fear  God,  and  I  will  declare  what  he  hath  done  for  my 
soul;''  and  to  **be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to 
every  man  that  asks  him  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in 
him, with  meekness  and  fear,*'  Psal.  Ixvi,  16:  1  Pet.  iii, 
15.  It  is  a  debt  of  gratitude  that  every  Christian  owes 
to  his  God  and  Saviour  to  do  this,  who  is  glorified  thereby; 
and  it  is  a  debt  of  love  he  owes  to  his  brethren,  and  even 


27&  EXPERIENCE. 

to  sinners  who  desire  it,  and  who  may  be  edified  theYehf* 
provided  it  be  done  in  meekness  and  humility.  And,  in- 
deed,  when  the  Christian  religion  shall  be  restored  to 
its  spiritual  simplicity  and  purity,  they  that  fear  and 
love  the  Lord,  will  speak  often  one  to  another  about  their 
religious  experience,  and  they  will  let  their  light  so  shine 
before  men  that  they  will  glorify  the  blessed  Saviour 
more  than  is  now  done. 

The  subject  of  Christian  experience  is  often  made 
dark,  and  is  confused  by  erroneous  apprehensions  j  and 
Christians  are  unwilling  to  talk  about  it  for  want  of  due 
care  in  distinguishing  between  truth  and  error,  and  in 
fixing  the  sense  and  meaning  of  the  terms  made  use  of 
to  express  the  views,  feelings  and  exercises  of  the  mind, 
■when  under  the  influence  of  divine  truth.  No  person  who 
passes  from  darkness,  guilt  and  death,  into  a  state  of 
light  and  pardon  and  life,  but  what  must  have  experience 
—  must  be  possessed  of  something  that  he  has  felt  and 
realized,  which  truly  answers  to  these  descriptions : —  Of 
all  this  he  is  conscious  in  the  present  state  and  feeling  of 
his  mind.     [Read  pages  224-5  in  this  connection.] 

Experience,  in  its  general  acceptation,  means  knowl- 
edge obtained  by  practical  proof  or  frequent  trial. — 
Knowledge  acquired  solely  by  the  efforts  of  the  intellect 
in  reading  and  investigating  any  subject,  is  termed  theo- 
retical and  speculative  knowledge.  Of  this  every  person 
of  common  sense,  with  ordinary  means,  is  capable;  and 
it  must,  in  some  degree,  go  before  experimental  knowl- 
edge. Agreeably  to  this  view  of  the  subject,  speculative,, 
or  theoretical  Christianity,  is  acquired  by  the  exercise  of 
the  intellect,  in  reading  or  hearing,  and  in  investigating  the 
Christian  religion,  as  it  is  revealed  in  God's  word.  The 
design  of  investigation  in  this  case,  as  in  all  others,  is  to 
ascertain  the  meaning  and  sense  of  the  words  and  sen- 


BXPBRIENCE.  2T7 

tences  which  compose  the  word  of  God,  and  which  the 
Spirit  of  God  gave  to  them  when  he  first  revealed  them. 
But,  alas,  how  few  investigate  the  scriptures  to  obtain 
correct  speculative  knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion, 
as  it  is  exhibited  in  God''s  word,  even  among  the  profes- 
sors of  it!  This  is  owing  to  the  confusion,  darkness  and 
contradictions,  in  which  it  is  often  involved  by  the  views 
in  which  it  is  presented  by  the  teachers   of  it. 

In  man's  state  of  pollution  and  guilt,  there  are  feelino^s 
still  remaining,  which  in  the  hour  of  sorrow  and  fear, 
may  melt  at  the  voice  of  compassion  and  love.  There 
are  events  in  the  store-house  of  God's  Providence  vvhich 
bring  the  stoutest  heart  to  a  stand,  and  then  the  charge 
of  guilt  is  no  longer  disregarded,  and  the  graoious  invi- 
tations of  an  Almighty  Father  are  not  despised.  An- 
guish and  doubt,  and  fear  and  pain  enter  the  sinner's  soul. 
,To  these  feelings  are  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel  ad- 
dressed. It  is  a  message  of  love  and  deliverance  to  the 
guilty,  distressed  and  helpless,  and  it  descends  upon  the 
tide  of  the  Saviour's  blood.  And  many  come,  led  by  in- 
stinctive longings  after  peace  and  enjoyment,  and  try  the 
gospel  as  the  last  expedient,  after  the  failure  of  every  oth- 
er attempt  to  obtain  happiness,  and  they  find  Him  of  whom 
Moses  and  the  prophets  did  write  by  the  light  and  influ- 
ence of  God's  Spirit,  thrcugh  the  gospel.  Faith,  in  this 
case,  by  its  justifying  and  sanctifying  effects,  brings 
a  worm  of  the  dust  into  union  with  the  King  of  heaven, 
and  converts  a  rebel  against  God,  into  an  heir  of  glory, 
as  it  is  the  channel  by  which  the  divine  testimony,  con- 
cerning.  pardon  through  the  cross  of  Christ,  is  conveyed 
to  the  understanding,  and  operates  upon  the  heart.  Il  is 
therefore  not  a  work  of  merit,  but  of  grace,  and  is 
merely  the  inlet  by  which  spiritual  light  and  influence, 
enter  the  soul,  and  purify  it,  and  through  which  the  au- 
24  * 


278  EXPERIENCB. 

thority  of  God  operates.  All  is  of  grace  in  man's  salva- 
tion, and  is  communicated  through  the  atonement  and 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  were  his  native  powers 
and  susceptibilities  which  render  him  capable  of  religion 
by  the  gospel  of  God's  grace,  ten  thousand  times  greater 
than  they  are,  they  would  avail  him  nothing  without  the 
mercy  and  grace  of  God,  as  they  would  be  the  powers  and 
susceptibilities  of  a  being,  utterly  lost,  hopeless  and  help- 
less in  himself  We  are  saved  by  grace,  and  have  redemp- 
through  the  blood  of  Christ,  even  the  forgiveness  of 
sin. 

To  deny  to  man  moral  pov/er  of  understanding  and  feel- 
infy,  which  God  gave  him,  though  exceedingly  perverted, 
and  which  God  addresses  by  the  gospel,  cannot  honor  God 
or  benefit  man,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  Nor  does  such  a  denial 
add  any  thing  to  the  scriptural  account  of  man's  absolute 
depravity,  or  inviie  in  an^/  measure  the  influences  of  God's 
Spirit,  or  give  efficacy  to  his  gospel  upon  the  heart. 
Such  views  are  often  given  of  this  subject  as  to  prevent 
any  attention  to  reading  or  hearing  the  gospel,  and  such 
as  to  deny  to  guilty  man  under  the  gospel,  spiritual  and 
moral  faculties  and  susceptibilities  altogether.  No  man 
has  ever  yet  been  able  to  explain  any  thing  about  the  in- 
ternal operations  of  the  mind,  and  why  should  it  be  at- 
tempted in  religion  more  than  in  any  thing  else? 

True  experimental  Christianity  is  the  truth  of  the  gos- 
pel proved  atid  confirmed  by  the  judgment  and  by  the  feel- 
ings of  the  heart,  and  by  frequent  trials  in  practice. 
Practical  religion  includes  speculative  truth,  but  specula- 
tive truth  is  not  always  connected  with  experimental  reli- 
gion. One  reason  why  it  is  so  seldom,  is,  that  there  is 
so  little  of  real  speculative  truth  known  in  our  country, 
on  the  subject  of  the  Christian  religion,  owing  to  the 
causes  before  alleged,  and   to  the    fact  that    the  gospel 


EXPERIENCE.  279 

record,  read,  or  heard  and    understood,  is  often  denied  to 
have  any  part  or  lot  in  religious  experience. 

In  regard  to  religious  feelings,  we  cannot  help  being, 
in  some  degree,  affected  by.vvhat  we  really  believe  con- 
cerning our  situation.  x\nd  the  great  concern  in  this  case, 
in  order  to  right  feelings,  is  to  believe  the  truth.  But  how^ 
can  this  be  done  without  its  being  known?  From  the  ac- 
count I  have  given  of  the  condition  of  man  in  his  ruined 
and  helpless  estate  of  sin  and  misery,  it  is  manifest  that 
there  must  be  a  turning  jmint  between  it  and  the  knowl- 
edge, love  and  enjoyment  of  Gt)d  —  and  in  passing 
from  the  one  state  to  the  <jther,  there  must  be  views  and 
feelings  corresponding  with  the  change.  That  turning 
point  is  conversion,  and  the  word  of  God's  grace,  which 
manifests  his  gospel  character,  and  imparts  the  light  of 
the  knowledge  of  his  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  presents  correct  views  of  our  own  when  associated 
with  his  law,  is  the  ordained  means  of  God  for  producing 
the  views  and  faith  and  feelings  which  answer  to  the 
change. 

These  are  new  covenant  bhessingrs  communicated  through 
the  blood  of  Christ.  Tlie  commencement  of  true  faith  is, 
the  production  of  penitential  feelings.  The  belief  of  our 
o^uilt  necessarily  produces  painful,  sorrowful  feelings — 
a  sense  of  sin  and  misery  under  the  light  of  the  gospel, 
awakens  a  desire  for  the  divine  favour,  and  God  commu- 
nicates relief  or  the  pardon  of  sin  by  the  gospel  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  brings  peace  into  the  soul. 
Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  receive  the  promise  of  the 
Spirit.  Here  is  an  experimental  change  of  heart;  and 
it  is  a  great  change.  They  who  have  experienced  it 
have  passed  from  death  unto  life:  they  love  God  and  his 
children.     This  they  know  by  experience  —  by  the  proof 


280  EXPERIENCE. 

they  posFCKS  in  the  actual  states  of  the  mind,  consisting 
in  their  views,  faith,  love,  and  confidence,  hope,  desires 
and  enjoyments  which  they  derive  from  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ.  They  are  qualified  for  and  desire  to  be 
members  of  the  church  of  God,  and  to  enjoy  the  fellow- 
ship of  his  people,  and  are  willing  to  be  baptized  into  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  is  the  same  as  to  be  baptized  into  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  lawgiver,  and  portion  for- 
ever. 

Christian  experience   however,  is  not  confined  to  the 
views  and  feelings  and  religious  exercises  which  are  re- 
alized in  conviction  and  conversion,  or  in  the  feelings  of 
sorrow  and  happy  deliverance  in  our  first  religious  exer- 
cises of  faith  in   Jesus   Christ.     It  properly    embraces 
and  comprehends  all  the  knowledge  which  the  christian 
derives  from  the  various  circumstances  and  situations  in 
which  he  is    placed,   and  from  the    temptations  and  trials 
to  which  he  is  exposed  through  life.     The  effects  of  faith- 
fully reading  of  the   scriptures  and  of  meditating  upon 
them,  and  of  disciplining  and  training  the  mind  according 
to  them,  in  spiritual-mindedness,and  in  doing  good  works, 
and  of  prayer,  and  of  attending  to  all  other  religious  da- 
ties,  or  the  careless  performance  of  them,  and  neglect  of 
them,  are  fruitful  sources  of  christian  experience.     The 
former  increase  and  strengthen  the  christian's  hope  and 
happiness.     The  latter  involves  all  in  darkness  and  un- 
certainty.    The  christian  religion  as  it  is  exhibited  in  the 
word  of  God,  is  true  in  theory,  as  it  is  in   practice,  and 
the  experience  of  the   christian  proves  it  to  be  so.     He 
finds  all  that  it  says  about  the  corruptions  and  weakness 
of  human  nature,  and  the  liability  of  the  christian  to  err, 
to  be  true.     He  finds  too  that  his  assurance,  strength  and 
eafety,  are  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  a  patient  waiting  upon 


EXPI{RIE^}CE*  291 

the  Lord  or  in  a  habitual  devotion  of  soul  to  him.  His  spirit- 
ual powers  and  susceptibilities  are  improved  by  being  exer- 
cised on  divine  things;  and  he  grows  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  his  word  dwell- 
ing in  him  richly,  and  by  his  beinor  engaged  in  doing  eve- 
ry good  work  to  promote  his  religion,  and  the  happiness 
of  his  people. 

Wrong  or  erroneous  views  of  the  doctrines  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel  and  of  christian  duties,  produce  er- 
rors in  christian  practice  and  experience,  and  defects  in 
the  christian  character.  Ihis  is,  and  ever  has  been,  the 
real  cause  of  all  the  diversities  and  contrarieties  in  the 
christian  character,  among  the  christian  sects. 

The  religious  experiences  of  different  persons  differ 
from  each  other  as  their  theories  and  systems  are  differ- 
ent, according  to  which  they  have  been  taught,  and  by 
which  their  religious  exercises  have  been  regulated.  And 
all  these  differ  from  the  faith  an  .i  che  religion  of  the  New 
Testament,  as  their  order  ana  manner  of  instruction  differ 
from  the  order  and  manner  of  the  goi  jel.  A  person  who 
is  taught  that  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  was  not  vicarious  — 
that  redemption  and  the  forgiveness  of  sin  are  not  by  the 
grace  of  God  through  his  blood,  that  he  died  only  as  other 
good  men  die,  and  not  as  a  sin-offering — and  that  his 
blood  has  nothing  to  do  in  the  divine  government  in  the 
pardon  of  sin,  and  (hat  sin  is  remitted  by  being  baptized 
and  in  the  act  of  immersion — such  a  person  will  have 
no  experience  of  the  guilt  and  odiousness  of  sin,  and  of 
the  grace  and  m.ercy  of  God  in  pardoning  it  through  that 
blood  which  was  shed  for  its  remission,  and  which 
cleanses  from  all  sin.  Nor  can  he  honour  and  adore  Je- 
sus Christ,  as  the  apostolic  christians  did,  and  as  the  re- 
deemed in  glory  do.  His  feelings,  affections,  sympathies, 
and  conduct   unless  it  is   hypocritical,  are  altogether  dif- 


282  EXI»fiRlENCE. 

ferent  from  those  who  receive  Christ  for  their  wisdom^ 
and  righteoub-ness,  and  sanctificntion  and  redemption. 
Such  an  individual  would  make  light  of  sin,  if  puhlic  opin- 
ion would  permit  him,  and  of  Jesus  Christ  too,  and  of 
christian  experience,  as  these  things  are  viewed  and  real- 
ized by  those  whose  hearts  have  been  made  to  feel  the 
exceeding  sinfulness  cf  sin,  and  have  been  broken  on  ac- 
count of  it,  and  have  been  healed  by  the  pardoning  mercy 
and  grace  of  God,  and  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gra- 
cious. The  ordinances  of  the  gospel  to  such  an  individ- 
ual, are  altogether  different  from  what  they  are  in  the 
view  of  the  persons  J  have  described.  He  would  talk 
about  them,  and  engage  in  their  use  with  views  and  feel- 
ings totally  different  from  those  who  by  faith  have  eaten 
the  flesh  and  drank  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  as  the 
great  expiatory  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  who  have  been  bap- 
tized into  Jesus  Christ,  in  consequence  of  the  divine  fa- 
vour bestowed  upon  them  through  the  blood  of  Christ. 
These  have  more  christian  enjoyment  at  a  common  meal 
in  gratitude  to  God,  than  he  c;in  ever  have  with  his  pres- 
ent views,  in  any  of  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel. 

No  person  can  have  a  reli'jji  )us  experience  of  pardoned 
sin  through  the  hlood  of  Christ,  whope  heart  has  not  been 
purified  by  that  blood  through  faith.  To  have  a  profitable, 
happy  christian  experience,  christians  must  regard  all 
scripture  as  given  by  inspiration  of  (iod,ancl  as  profitable, 
for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  lor  instruction  in 
righteousncs,  that  they  may  V,o  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 
nished unto  all  good  works —  and  they  may  abound  in  the 
works  of  the  Lord  to  do  them. 


ESSAY   XVL 


Prayer,  in  Christian  worFhip,  is  a  solemn  address  to 
God  in  the  name  of  and  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
consisting  in  adoration,  or  an  expression  of  our  sense  of 
God'^s  gioriony  perfections ;  confession  of  our  sin ;  supplica- 
tion for  mercy  and  foroivencss;  iniercession  ftn*  blessings 
on  others;  nnd  thanksgiving,  or  -an  expression  of  gratitude 
to  God  tor  his  mercies  and  benefiis. 

Prayer  has  also  been  defined  to  be  the  offering  up  of  our 
desires  unto  God  for  things  agreeal)le  to  his  will,  through 
the  mediation  of  Jesus  Cb.rist  by  faith. 

if  prayer  be  the  offering  up  of  our  desires  to  God  for 
things  agreeable  to  his  will,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
throuo^h  faith,  that  will  and  the  char.icter  and  offices  of  Je- 
6US  Christ  must  be  known  and  strictly  at  ended  to,  and 
confidently  relied  (in,  and  our  desires  must  be  agreeable 
to  God's  will,  when  we  pray. 

In  prayer  there  are  a  number  of  things  in  which  our 
situation  differs  from  1  he  situation  of  those  who  lived  in 
the  Aposto'io  age,  which  are  necessary  to  be  attended  to, 
in  order  to  avoid  error  in  our  views,  expectations  and  ex- 
ercises, and  to  be  friii'.f  il  in  this  must  delightful  and  profit- 
able Chrislian  exercise  nnd  duty. 

When  the  disciples  askel  Jesus  Christ  to  teach  them 
how  to  pray,  and  when  ho  tau'^hi  them  what  to  pray  for, 
and  the  manner  in  which  \hiyy  were  to  pray,  (Math,  vi,^ 


284  PRAYER. 

13.     Luke   xi,  1-11)  ihey  knew  but   very  little  of  his 
character,   mission,   religion  or  kingdom,   in  comparison 
with  what  is  known  by  the  least  of  his  disciples  who  are 
now  in  his  kingdom.     Under  their  exceedingly  limited  and 
imperfect  state  of  knowledge,  he  taught  them  to  pray  in 
a  way  and  after  a  manner,  that  were  suited  to  it,  and  in 
reference  to  future  developments.     At  that  time  the  New 
Covenant    was    not    established,  the    kingdom    had     not 
come,  Jesus  had  not  been  glorified  and  the  Soirit  was  not 
given.     At  that  time  he  did  not  teach  his  disciples  to  pray 
for  or  to  ask  any  thing  in  his  name,  as  he  afterwards  did. 
John  xvi,  24.     After  he  was  glorified,  ihe  kingdom  was 
erected,  and  the  S  nrit  was  given  who  taiigh^  the  Apostles 
and  the  disciples  immediately,  the  nature  of  his   religion 
and  reign.     These  were  done  before  any  portion  of  the 
New    Testament  was  written,  and  it  was  written  after- 
wards by  the  inspirations  and  under  the  influence  of  the 
Spirit  at  different  times.     These  inspirations  and  revela- 
tions of  the  Spirit  supplied  for  a  considerable  time  the 
place  of  Christ's  personal  teaching  and  the  place  of  a  writ- 
ten record.  After  the  record  was  completed  the  miraculous 
gifts  and  supernatural  revelations  ceased,  and  we  are  not 
again  to  expect  them  nor  to  ask  for  them.     We  now  have 
his    instructions    in    the     gospel,  and    when    we    pray, 
we  are  to  ask  God  to  teach  us   through  the  reading  and 
hearing  of  his  word.     We  arc  now  taught  the  will  ot  God 
and  what  we  are  to  pray  for,  by  his  written  word,  and  by 
our  wants  and  necessities.     In  this  sentiment   all  protcs- 
tant  Christians  agree.     They  say,  that  *'  the  former  waj's 
of  God's  revealing  himself  unto  his  people  by  immediate 
revelations  being  ceased,  the  wliole  counsel  of  God,  con- 
cerning all  things  necessary  tor  his  own  glory,man's  salva- 
tiqp,  faith  and  life, is   either  expressly  set  down   in  scrip- 
ture or  by  good  and  necessary  consequence,  may  be  dedue- 


PUAYER.  285 

'cd,  to  which  nothing  at  any  time  is  to  be  added,  whether, 
by  new  revelations  of  the  spirit,  or  traditions  of  men." 
They  further  say,  (liat"ih(;sc  liiings  uliichajc  necessary 
to  be  known,  believed  and  observed,  for.  salvalion,  are  so 
clearly  {)ropo;:nded,  and  opened  in  some  place  of  the 
scripluic  or  o  her,  that  the  nn'oarneJ,  in  the  due  use  of 
tlie  orJinary  means,  may  r;tlain  un:o  a  sufficient  under- 
standing of  (he  same.  And  thus,  the  w  nxl  of  God  dwell- 
ing pleriJifuily  in  all,  they  miy  wc  rship  him  in  an  accept- 
able manner,  and  through  patience  and  comfort  of  the 
scriptures,  nny  have  h'»pc.  " 

God  exerts  a  governing  r.nl  controlling  powci"  on  thp 
course  of  things  in  the  world,  as  well  as  on  the  spirit  and 
body  of  man.  Wiihojt  our  being  able  to  explain  (heso 
things  philosphically,  unless  we  believe  and  realize  (ho 
truth  of  them,  we  cannot  tlisccrn  the  usp,  or  dischar^'-e  tho 
duty  ot  jirayer  in  i'aith. 

We  are  the.  s  isiained  cre^itures  of  God  f-om  moment  to 
moment  :inJ  the  cessation  of  his  will  tint  wc  exis%  will 
be  the  cessarion  of  o;ir  existon  -e.  Theso^  things  wo 
know  l)y  fii;h.  By  the  same  means  we  knowthat  God 
gives  l.ii.h  to  all  the  appearance?  and  opcra'ions  of  na- 
ture by  the  e!cmcns  and  biws  which  ho  croa'ed  and 
sustains.  :  s  lie  docs  to  the  states  r.nd  operations  of  n)ind. 
He  giv(>s  i:s  aso  redetnptic  n  and  ihc  forgiveness  of  sin,  . 
accor.ling  to  the  riches  of  his  grace,  th.-ough  ho  blood  of 
Christ,  r.nd  has  aj>|)ointed  the  gospel  as  the  means  of  our 
fai:h  and  ic'igioi-s  in'crcourse  wi  h  him.  And  he  has  ap- 
pointed prayer  as  a  sn  si  essential  an  !  ne?essary  exercise 
nnd  do  y,  thr  )n;h  an  1  by  which  Iiq  c.tmm"!nicates  divino 
infliien  (3  inl  s  reng  h  to  the  sou!,  and  holds  commun'on 
with  the  .••pi;-ii 

As  (j  Ki  om-nands   ',;«;  to  pray  to  him  through  fi;i  h  in 
the  nam;'  <»i  .Icsusj  Chris*,  f»r  things  according  to  his  wil', 
*J3 


280  PRAYER. 

he  must  intend  us  to  believe  that  he  regards  our  prayer, 
and  has  ordained  it  as  necessary  to  his  glory  and  to  our 
good. 

Michaelis,  specifies  the  following  benefits  of  prayer  as 
some  of  the  blessings  which  God  bestows  through  it.  "It 
imparts  a  sensible  form  or  realty  to  our  abstract  or  theo- 
retical faith,  and  reduces  it  to  practice  before  the  throne 
of  God,  and  thus  renders  it  a  better  shield  against  the  as- 
saults of  vice,  which  come  armed  with  the  powers  of 
sense.  It  renders  us  familiar  w'ith  God  and  spiritual  and 
invisible  things  as  they  are  revealed  in  the  gospel.  It 
makes  us  recollect  and  realize  the  presence  of  the  invisi- 
ble God,  more  frequently  and  feelingly,  as  he  has  revealed 
himself  amid  our  ordinary  vocations.  It  familiarizes  us 
with  God's  law,  and  his  grace  in  Christ,  and  our  duty,  and 
makes  us  afraid  of  transgressing  the  divine  will  and  in- 
disposes us  to  do  so,  and  causes  shame  before  God  for  our 
past  sins.  And  lastly,  it  awakens  a  lively  feeling  of  Ipve 
and  gratitude  to  God  for  all  his  favors. '- 

By  humble,  faithful  prayer,  the  heart  is  more  effectually 
purified  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  the  soul  imbued  with 
the  divine  influence,  than  in  any  other  way.  The  Spirit 
of  God  in  his  gracious  influence  is  present,  and  he  gives 
to  the  exercise  of  prayer  divine  spiritual  effects  in  the 
■  feelings  and  enjoyments  of  the  soul,  answerable  to  the 
promises  in  his  Word.  Agreeably  to  the  divine  constitu- 
tion of  things  over  which  Jesus  Christ  presides,  the  repe- 
tition of  proper  spiritual  ideas  and  sentiments  by  the  use 
of  God's  word  and  other  appropriate  language,  revive  and 
strengthen  the  views  and  sentiments,  feelings  and  affec- 
tions which  they  originally  produce  and  express. 

From  this  state  of  things  in  thT3  divine  economy,  arises 
the  benefit  of  all  religious  exercises  in  reading  God's 
word,   in  mediation,  in  prayer  and  in  praise,  and  in  ro 


PRAYER.  2^/ 

iigions  conversation,  and  in  social  public  worship  in  gen- 
eral. 

The  religious  states  of  mind  which  are  produced,  not 
by  foreign  mixtures  or  superinduced  faculties,  but  by  di- 
vine influence  in  the  use  of  God's  word,  through  prayer 
and  other  religious  exercises,  cannot  exist  in  the  mind 
without  these  exercises,  because  these  are  the  very  means 
that  God  has  ordained  by  which  he  imparts  and  produces, 
them.  Therefore,  those  persons  icho  do  not  pray  and 
perform  these  works  of  piety,  or  who  do  not  do  the  will 
of  God,  do  not  possess  or  enjoy  them. 

Although  we  are  not  to  look  for  immediate  inspirations 
and  revelations  of  the  Spirit  to  teach  us  verbally  the 
things  of  God,  as  the  Apostles  possessed  them,  yet  we 
need  the  gracious  and  sanctifying  influences  of  God's 
Spirit  in  acquiring  the  true  spiritual  sense  and  meaning 
of  the  scriptures.  These  are  communicated  in  the  pray- 
erful exercise  of  searching  and  investigating  the  scrip- 
tures. 

When  we  pray  for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  for 
the  accomplishment  of  any  end,  it  ought  always  to  be  done 
in  reference  to  the  use  of  the  means  which  God  appoint- 
ed, and  with  the  purpose  of  acquiescing  and  going  along 
with  him  in  using  them.  If  our  prayers  do  not  produce 
these  effects  upon  ourselves  they  are  not  of  faith.  A 
person  who  prays  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  or  of 
his  family  and  neighbors,  and  does  not  use  the  means 
which  God  has  appointed  for  effecting  it — if  he  does  not 
instruct  them  in  the  scriptures,  or  aid  in  sending  scripture 
instruction  to  them,  he  does  not  pray  in  faith,  as  the 
prayer  of  faith  is  as  much  concerned  in  tlie  use  of  the 
means  that  God  has  appointed  as  it  is  for  his  agency,  for 
accomplishing  the  end. 

God  converts  no  soul  by  the  gospel  but  by  its  being 


288  PRAYER. 

heard  or  read  and  believed.  And  there  seems  to  be  no 
other  limitation  annexed  to  the  divine  promises  of  divine 
influences  and  effects,  than  what  is  fixed  by  the  faith  and 
conduct  of  the  people  of  God.  It  appfears,  by  an  atten- 
tive examination  of  the  subject,  that  the  prayer  and  con- 
duct of  faith  in  the  use  of  God's  means  have,  by  a  fixed 
law  of  the  divine  government,  an  absolute  efiiciency,  such 
however  as  originates  purely  in  the  appointment  of  God, 
as  certainly  as  effects  follow  their  causes  and  partake  of 
their  nature  in  any  visible  operation  of  nature.  This  is 
as  much  the  law  of  the  divine  economy  and  procedure  in 
spiritual  operations  and  influence  on  the  soul  of  man,  as 
gravitation  is  a  law  of  the  physical  world  on  matter. 

The  success  of  our  efforts,  consequently,  to  grow  in 
grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  ad- 
vancing his  kingdom  and  glory,  are  in  a  due  proportion  to 
the  scHpiural  means  we  use,  through  a  true  practical  faith, 
for  these  purposes.  Under  these  limitations,  God  seems 
to  be  so  much  on  the  side  of  man's  spiritual  improvement 
and  happiness,  as  not  to  have  reserved  to  liiinself  the 
right,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression,  to  withhold  any 
good  thing  that  will  correspond  with  the  scriptural  faith, 
and  prayers,  and  labors,  of  those  who  walk  uprightly. 
Why  should  it  be  thought  that  in  the  gracious,  spiritual 
government  of  God,  every  thing  is  at  loose  ends,  and  left 
to  coiitingonciee  which  are  in  no  wise  under  the  influence 
of  a  regular  system  of  causation,  superintended  and  man 
aged  by  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  supreme  while  there  is  such  a 
close  and  necessary  connectipn  between  cause  and  effect, 
means  and  ends,  by  divine  appointment,  in  the  natural 
world;  seeing,  too,  that  the  latter  is  subordinate  to,  and  is 
sustained  for  the  benefit  of  the  former?  Is  not  the  word 
of  God  truth,  and  is  He  not  a  God  of  faithfulness  and 
t  rath?     By  how  much  christians  believe  and  trust  in  God, 


PRAYER.  289 

and  pray  and  act  according  to  the  sense  and  manning  of 
his  word,  in  waiting  upon  him  and.  in  doing  his  will,  by  so 
much  will  He  perform  all  his  promisees,  and  advance  his 
religion  and  kingdom  in  the  world. 

If  God  is  doing  no  mighty  work  among  us,  it  is  for  the 
same  reason  that  Jesus  Christ  did  not  many  mighty  works 
HI  a  certain  place,  because  of  their  unbelief.  No  want 
of  power  or  benevolence  belong  to  God,  or  unwillingness 
to  exercise  his  kindness;  but  v/e  set  bounds  to  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel  by  our  unsciptural,  party,  selfish  views  and 
desires,  and  by  our  faithlessness,  indolence  or  unconcern 
for  his  honor  and  glory  according  tc  the  gospel.  He  can- 
not deny  himself.  His  word  is  truth,  and  cannot  be  alter- 
ed and  yet  retain  its  divine  character  and  efficacy.  His 
language  is  now  as  it  was  of  old,  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God. 
which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt:  Open  thy 
mouth  wide  and  I  will  fill  it.  But  my  people  would  not 
hearken  to  my  voice:  and  Israel  would  none  of  me.  So 
I  gave  them  unto  their  own  heart's  lusts;  and  they  walked 
in  their  own  counsels.  Oh  that  my  people  had  hearkened 
unto  me,  and  Israel  had  walked  in  my  ways!  I  should 
soon  have  subdued  their  enemies,  and  turned  my  hand 
against  their  advei'saries.  The  haters  of  the  Lord  should 
have  submitted  themselves  unto  him:  but  their  time  should 
have  endured  forever.  He  should  have  fed  them  also 
with  the  finest  of  the  wheat,  and  with  the  honey  out  of  the 
rock,  should  I  have  sustained  thee."     Psal.  Ixxxi,  10-16. 

While  God  reserves  to  himself  the  right  to  bestow  his 
gracious  blessings  upon  the  souls  of  men,  he  claims  the 
right  also  of  ordaining  the  means  of  doing  it,  and  requires 
of  his  people  strict  subordination  to  his  will  in  the  use  of 
them.  Agreeably  to  his  own  method  and  means  he  gives 
to  his  people  the  key  that  unlocks  the  sacred  store  house,  and 
employs  them  as  workers  with  him  in  the  administering 
25  * 


>90  PRAYER. 

lis  blp.ssings  to  themselves,  and  in  distributing  its  treasures 
to  others.  Many  poor  souls  are  however  starving  at  the 
door  froiii  an  unwillingness  of  his  professed  people  to  use 
the  key  which  he  has  given  them  to  unlock  the  door,  and 
to  use  the  means  of  distributing  its  treasures.  This  is  the 
reason  why  there  is  but  little  more  of  this  earth  covered 
by  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  with  the  exception  of  Amer- 
ica, than  there  was  when  the  last  of  the  Apostles  died, 
and  the  reason  why  religion  partakes  so  little  of  the  spirit 
of  its  author. 

For  many  hundreds  of  years  christians  have  been  di- 
vided, and  have  expended  their  strength  in  opposition  to 
each  other,  and  have  thereby  done  the  work  of  the  com- 
mon enemy  instead  of  being  united  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
making  it  a  common  cause  against  the  prince  of  darkness. 
This  is  the  reason  why  the  christian  religion  does  not  now 
prevail  among  all  nations.  And  were  the  world  to  be 
converted  agreeably  to  the  present  state  of  things  in  re- 
gard to  sectarian  Christianity,  it  would  need  to  be  convert- 
ed over  again.  It  would  fall  entirely  short  of  that  state 
of  his  religion  and  kingdom  which  Jesus  Christ  came  in- 
to the  world  to  establish.  Were  the  kingdom  and  the  do- 
minion, which  are  to  be  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High,  to  be  given  to  either  of  the  christian  sects,  there  is 
not  one  of  them  that  is  prepared  to  receive  them :  they 
are  all  too  much  engaged  "  in  sacrificing  unto  their  own 
net  and  in  burning  incense  to  their  own  drag."  Hab.  i, 
16.  In  making  these  remarks  I  have  not  an  unkind  feel- 
ing towards  any  of  them,^ — I  esteem  all  as  my  brethren 
who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity;  nor  would  I 
disturb  the  peace  and  happiness  of  any  of  their  churches, 
but  would  have  them  to  cherish  more  supeme  love  to  Je- 
sus Christ,  as  the  one  Lawgiver  and  their  common  Head, 
and  come  nearer  together  in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  and  in 


PRATER.  291: 

the  bonds  of  peace.  I  would  exhort  them  and  myself  to 
enter  more  deeply  into  the  meaning  and  spirit  of  the  in- 
tercessary  prayer  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  pray,  like  him, 
^Hhat  all  who  believe  in  him  through  the  word  of  the  Apos- 
tles may  I  o  c.;!  as  he  is  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in 
him ;  that  they  may  be  one  in  them,  that  the  world  may  be- 
lieve that  the  Father  hath  sent  him,"  John  xvii,  20,  21: 
and  act  out  the  spirit  of  the  prayer  in  christian  fellow- 
ship and  effort.  A  leading  object  in  our  prayers  ought 
to  be,  that  our  own  minds  and  wills  be  according  to  the 
mind  of  God,  and  that  we  may  acquiesce  in  the  method, 
and  go  along  with  God  in  the  use  of  the  means,  that  he 
has  ordained  for  our  own  happiness,  and  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world.  The  supposed  unwillingness  of  God 
to  convert  sinners,  and  the  creeds  and  systems  based  up- 
on it,  arise  from  the  failure  of  the  means  which  men  em- 
ploy to  do  it,  which  are  inconsistent  with  those  that  God 
has  ordained  to  accomplish  it.  God's  will  to  convert  sin- 
ners is  according  to  his  own  method  and  means.  He  is 
willing  to  convert  sinners  by  the  gospel,  and  in  no  other 
way,  and  by  the  use  of  human  agency  in  instructing  man- 
kind in  the  sense  and  meaning  of  his  word,  and  by  a  con- 
sistant  and  godly  conduct.  Men  pray  to  God  to  make 
him  willing  to  save  sinners.  They  seem  to  think  that 
they  are  more  willing  than  God  is.  Their  prayers  to  God 
ought  to  be,  that  they  themselves,  and  ail  other  christians 
might  be  willing  to  use  the  means  in  the  way  and  manner 
that  he  has  ordained  for  their  conversion. 

Jesus  Christ  has  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth  for 
ihe  very  purpose  of  converting  the  world;  and  he  is  the 
unchangeable  God,  and  is  always  willing,  by  the  faithful 
use  of  the  means  he  has  ordained,  to  convert  sinners. 
His  gospel  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  to  them  that 
believe;  but  the  theories  and  speculations  of  men  are  no 
part  of  it,  and  very  often  nullify  it. 


292  PRAYER. 

The  Apostles  were  successful  in  converting  sinner.* 
because  they  pursued  God's  method  of  doing  it.  Their 
prayers  and  their  labors  went  together.  The  long  period 
of  darkness  that  succeeded  was  owing  to  the  exclusion  of 
God's  word  from  the  people.  And  the  revival  of  religion 
in  the  16th  century,  and  its  success  since,  have  been  ow- 
jiig  to  the  knowledge  and  use  of  the  gospel  of  God.  The 
translation  of  the  scriptures  and  missionary  eiforts — the 
use  of  Sunday  Schools  and  Bible  classes,  are  all  in  the  way 
of  the  divine  method  and  means  for  the  advancement  of 
he  religion  and  kingdom  of  Christ.  All  things  on  the 
part  of  God  are  ready,  and  noic  is  his  time.  Christians 
ought  to  believe  this  and  to  realize  that  their  unio7i  and 
oNE-NEss  in  the  Father  and  the  Son,  through  the  icord  of 
the  Apostles  and  acquiescence  with  God  in  its  use  in  pro- 
moting their  own  piety  and  happiness,  the  conversion  of 
sinners,  and  the  glory  of  Christ,  are  their  indispensable 
duty.  Their  prayers  are  not  the  offering  up  of  their  de- 
•sires  to  God  for  things  agreeable  to  his  will,  through  the 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ  by  faith,  if  they  do  not  produce 
these  very  effects. 

Prayer  is  essential  to  the  spiritual  comfort  and  happi 
ness  of  the  christian.  A  sense  of  want  excites  desire, 
and  desire,  if  agreeable  to  God's  will,  is  the  very  essence 
of  prayer.  "One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord,  and 
that  will  I  seek  after."     Psal.  xxvii,4. 

Prayer  must  ])c  made  with  confession  of  our  sins  and 
acknowledgment  of  God's  mercy:  "  I  prayed  and  made 
confession."  Dan.  ix,  4.  Sin  is  a  burden  of  which  confes- 
sion unloads  the  soul.  We  often  feel  a  sense  of  pardon 
communicated  at  the  time  of  prayer.  When  burdened  by 
a  sense  of  neglected  or  of  violated  duty,  confession  of 
our  sins,  with  faith  in  God's  forgiveness  through  the  atone- 
ment, and  disburdening  our  souls  into  the  bosom  of  our 


PRAYER.  293 

heavenly  Father,  while  yet  speaking  he  hears  us.  In 
drawing  nigh  to  him  he  draws  nigh  to  usi.  "  Call  upon  me 
in  the  day  of  trouble  and  I  will  deliver  thee.  Psal.  1,  15. 
In  this  world  we  are  to  expect  tribulations,  yet  our  prayers 
are  answered  with  respect  to  them  when  we  are  support- 
ed under  them.  When  they  work  for  our  good  they  pro- 
duce the  peaceful  fruits  of  righteousness.  They  lead  us 
to  fix  our  hope  and  confidence  on  God  in  Christ,  and  the 
eternal  weight  of  glory. 

He  that  would  have  his  prayers  answered  must  keep 
God's  commandments,  "  whatsoever  we  ask  we  receive  of 
him,  because  we  keep  his  commandments  and  do  those 
things  that  are  pleasing  in  his  sight."  1  John  iii,  22. 
"And  this  is  his  commandment,  that  we  should  believe  on 
the  name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  one  another,  as 
he  gave  commandment.  He  that  keepeth  his  command- 
ments dwelleth  in  him,  and  he  in  him.  This  is  the  con- 
fidence we  have  with  him, that  if  we  ask  any  thing  accord- 
ing to  his  will  he  heareth  us."      1  John  v,  13,  14. 

Prayer  doubles  the  christian's  enjoyments.  While  the 
natural  food  feeds  the  body,  prayer  and  thanksgiving  for 
it  feeds  the  soul — it  is  sanctified  by  the  word  of  God  and 
by  prayer.  When  all  our  desires  and  wants  are  satisfied 
prayer  will  be  converted  into  praise.  Till  then  we  must 
live  by  prayer,  and  by  prayerful  effort  according  to  the 
word  of  God,  lie  at  the  mercy  seat.  "O  thou  that  hearest 
prayer,  unto  thee  shall  all  flesh  come."     Psal.  Ixv,  2. 


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